Marijuana linked to bouts of intense vomiting among some longtime users

More than one-fifth of people who use cannabis struggle with dependency or problematic use, according to a study. | EastIdahoNews.com file photo SPOKANE, Washington (The Spokesman-Review) — Mysterious bouts of intense vomiting may be caused by frequent marijuana use, health officials warn. With the illness recently having been recognized by the World Health Organization, University of Washington researchers hope to find the cause behind a mysterious, cannabis-linked disease. The condition, cannabis hyperemesis syndrome, has become prevalent in recent years with increased chronic use of the drug postlegalization. It can be difficult to diagnose because the recurrent vomiting only develops years or decades after an individual becomes a frequent cannabis user. “People will vomit four or five times in an hour and go to the emergency room because it’s really painful and uncomfortable,” said University of Washington cannabis researcher Beatriz Carlini. “But until recently, very few doctors knew about the condition, and it can be difficult to connect the symptoms to cannabis use.” It is unknown what in cannabis causes the vomiting and why it is not triggered until years of frequent use. Symptoms of CHS include vomiting, persistent nausea, intense abdominal pain and a loss of appetite. Once the syndrome has developed, these symptoms will flare up three or four times a year as long as the affected individual continues using cannabis. Standard antinausea medications are typically not effective in alleviating symptoms. Hot showers may temporarily relieve symptoms, but the only known permanent fix is stopping cannabis use. Prevalence of the disease in emergency rooms is also on the rise. Between 2016 and 2023, the number of emergency room visits for CHS increased 49%, according to research by Boston’s Children Hospital. Carlini expects many cases have not been counted because doctors have not had a specific code for the disease until earlier this month. The code was created by the World Health Organization and then approved for United States doctors by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Clinicians can formally identify the condition with one billing code instead of describing it with two or three less exact codes. Many marijuana users also reject the idea that the drug may be behind their gastrointestinal issues. For many, cannabis relieves nausea and can be prescribed to chemotherapy patients for that reason. “Some people say they’ve used cannabis without a problem for decades. Or they smoke pot because they think it treats their nausea,” said Chris Buresh, an emergency medicine specialist with UW Medicine and Seattle Children’s. “It seems like there’s a threshold when people can become vulnerable to this condition, and that threshold is different for everyone. Even using in small amounts can make these people start throwing up.” Spokane Regional Health District drug counselor Amanda Dugger has seen the condition in those she has worked with locally. “It’s definitely becoming more common. People tell me five times in an hour they’re vomiting. I hear it more and more,” she said. The condition is one of several health risks of frequent cannabis use that are clearer a decade after legalization, she added. Other risks include a higher susceptibility to respiratory disease, high blood pressure, increased heart rate and certain cancers. Use of the drug among adolescents and young adults can also create a learning deficit and increase the risk of psychosis and other mental health conditions. Dugger worries these negative impacts may become more severe for those using cannabis now because psychoactive THC levels of the drug are so much higher than they used to be. MultiCare addiction medicine specialist Mark Murphy said that 10% of frequent cannabis users develop an addiction even though marijuana lacks some of the addictive elements of harder drugs. Cannabis use among adolescents has trended down since the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the annual Monitoring the Future survey, the prevalence of daily marijuana use among high school seniors declined from 19% in the late 1990s to 13% in 2024. At the same time, cannabis use has increased the most for those in their mid- to-late 20s . According to the same survey, marijuana use among young adults has increased from 30.3% in 2014 to 41.4% in 2024. “I feel as if a lot of people either misunderstand or they just never worry about the risks,” Murphy said. “I’m shocked actually by how many of my patients use cannabis. It is at least 25%.”The post Marijuana linked to bouts of intense vomiting among some longtime users appeared first on East Idaho News.
Source: eastidahonews.com