This symptom is called cannabinoid vomiting syndrome, which is characterized by repeated severe nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain in heavy cannabis users. They often take hot baths to relieve their symptoms. According to * * *, this situation was first discovered in 2004, but American doctors reported that this situation has appeared more frequently in recent years. A recent study in new york on people who smoke marijuana heavily (at least 20 days a month) found that about one third of smokers have symptoms consistent with cannabinoid vomiting syndrome, which means that they have experienced nausea and vomiting. Taking a hot bath can alleviate these symptoms. The researchers said that if the results are extrapolated to the whole country, it is estimated that 2.7 million Americans may suffer from cannabinoid vomiting syndrome or similar diseases. (Even so, it is not clear whether these results can be extrapolated to other fields. ) 25 strange facts about marijuana
However, what caused this situation, and why can a hot bath relieve people's symptoms? Dr. KDSP can't answer these questions, and any attempt to explain what happened is "very hypothetical", said Dr. Kennon Hurd, a toxicologist at the University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora. Hurd said that WHO has studied cannabinoid vomiting syndrome.
But doctors know that long-term medication will lead to changes in the brain and nervous system. In addition, doctors know that endogenous cannabinoids-compounds similar to marijuana in the body-are part of the body's pain system, Hurd said.
Therefore, it is believed that the long-term production of "high" tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) from cannabis will change the human pain system, thus leading to the symptoms of cannabinoid vomiting syndrome.
Hurd told Life Science that something in the pain system would be interfered by THC "all the time".
If so, taking a hot bath may help relieve the symptoms, because hot water will produce different sensory signals, which will distract the body from the pain signals. "Your body can only process so many signals at a time," Hurd said.
Doctors don't know why some people who smoke marijuana get this disease, while others don't. This is still a hypothesis. In fact, among cancer patients receiving chemotherapy, medical marijuana is sometimes used to relieve nausea and vomiting.
I heard that when he first heard about this situation about 15 years ago, he doubted it was true. But now, he no longer doubts that this situation is "we see it in the emergency room several times a week, if not every day."
Hurd said that this situation is not life-threatening, but it is "definitely disabling". He pointed out that patients may go to the emergency room three or four times a week, or need to stay at home and take a bath frequently. In 20 10, researchers found that patients with cannabinoid vomiting syndrome went to the emergency room on average 7 times and were diagnosed (wrongly) 3 times before being diagnosed.
But there is a cure-quitting smoking and marijuana. In a retrospective study on 20 17, Hurd's colleagues found that 97% patients with cannabinoid emesis syndrome had no symptoms after stopping smoking marijuana.
This is an original article about life science.