From: Ian Goddard (Ian@Goddard.net)
Date: Thu Dec 09 1999 - 21:43:24 MST
In contrast to the tofu study suggesting tofu may cause brain
atrophy, this recent epidemiological study found that cognitive
decline in a large group of cannabis users over 12 years was
not significantly different than nonusers, and concluded that
the observed decline "does not appear to be associated with
cannabis use." The fact that there were was no significant
difference in cognitive decline between heavy users and
light users also suggests no cannabis-induced decline.
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American Journal Of Epidemiology, 1999 May 1;149(9):794-800
Cannabis use and cognitive decline
in persons under 65 years of age.
Lyketsos CG, Garrett E, Liang KY, Anthony JC
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, School of
Medicine, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
The purpose of this study was to investigate possible adverse
effects of cannabis use on cognitive decline after 12 years
in persons under age 65 years. This was a follow-up study of
a probability sample of the adult household residents of East
Baltimore. The analyses included 1,318 participants in the
Baltimore, Maryland, portion of the Epidemiologic Catchment
Area study who completed the Mini-Mental State Examination
(MMSE) during three study waves in 1981, 1982, and 1993-1996.
Individual MMSE score differences between waves 2 and 3 were
calculated for each study participant. After 12 years, study
participants' scores declined a mean of 1.20 points on the
MMSE (standard deviation 1.90), with 66% having scores that
declined by at least one point. Significant numbers of scores
declined by three points or more (15% of participants in the
18-29 age group). There were no significant differences in
cognitive decline between heavy users, light users, and
nonusers of cannabis. There were also no male-female differences
in cognitive decline in relation to cannabis use. The authors
conclude that over long time periods, in persons under age 65
years, cognitive decline occurs in all age groups. This decline
is closely associated with aging and educational level but does
not appear to be associated with cannabis use.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/htbin-post/Entrez/query?uid=10221315&form=6&db=m
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/htbin-post/Entrez/query?uid=10221315&form=6&db=m
&Dopt=b
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GODDARD'S JOURNAL: http://www.erols.com/igoddard/journal.htm
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