[News] Marijuana Linked with Impaired Sleep Quality

[ApneaNews]

Marijuana Linked with Impaired Sleep Quality

A new study suggests that marijuana use is associated with impaired sleep quality.

Results show that any history of cannabis use was associated with an increased likelihood of reporting difficulty falling asleep, struggling to maintain sleep, experiencing nonrestorative sleep, and feeling daytime sleepiness. The strongest association was found in adults who started marijuana use before age 15; they were about twice as likely to have severe problems falling asleep (odds ratio = 2.28), experiencing nonrestorative sleep (OR = 2.25), and feeling overly sleepy during the day (OR = 1.99). Results were adjusted for potential confounders including age, sex, race/ethnicity, and education.

“Current and past marijuana users are more likely to experience sleep problems,” says lead author Jilesh Chheda, research assistant at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, working with Dr Michael Grandner, senior author on the study, in a release. “The most surprising finding was that there was a strong relationship with age of first use, no matter how often people were currently using marijuana. People who started using early were more likely to have sleep problems as an adult.”

The research abstract was published recently in an online supplement of the journal Sleep and will be presented tomorrow at SLEEP 2014.

The study involved adults ranging in age from 20 to 59 years who responded to the 2007-2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). A history of drug use was reported by 1,811 participants. Cannabis use was assessed as any history of use, age at first use, and number of times used in the past month. Sleep-related problems were considered severe if they occurred at least 15 days per month.

Although the design of this study did not allow for an examination of causality, the results suggest that initiation of marijuana use in adolescence may impart a higher risk for subsequent insomnia symptoms, or it may mean that those who begin using earlier are more likely to experience insomnia for other reasons, such as stress. Insomnia may even be one of the reasons people start (or continue) use, though this evidence suggests that it is probably not effective if they are still experiencing problems.

“Marijuana use is common, with about half of adults having reported using it at some point in their life,” Chheda says. “As it becomes legal in many states, it will be important to understand the impact of marijuana use on public health, as its impact on sleep in the ‘real world’ is not well known.”

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, marijuana use among young people has been increasing since 2007, which may be associated with increased public debate over the drug’s legal status. The federal government considers marijuana a Schedule I substance that has no medicinal uses and a high risk for abuse. However, Colorado and Washington have legalized marijuana for adult recreational use, and 21 states have passed laws allowing its use as a treatment for certain medical conditions.


Fair use applies, from:
http://www.sleepreviewmag.com/2014/06/ma...p-quality/

[eviltim]

Interesting, but I wonder if there's an element of self-medication going on here.

Not to mention...the munchies leading to weight issues leading to sleep apnea.

[big_dave]

I wouldn't be surprised if people try to get medical marijuana cards for sleep apnea, despite this news.

[DocWils]

well.... duh. Nothing new to my practice. We've been saying for years that pot is not innocuous, despite what pot lobbyists would claim - more harmful than alcohol or ciggies is another question, but certainly as harmful, and with some nasty side effects, as any drug not administered properly and under supervision is. With over a third of Swiss teenagers "kiffing" as we call it here, it is a growing problem and one which is reaping massive medical costs later in life, as well as social costs - people who are long term users have less drive and have a harder time at work that requires repetitive tasks and concentration, and have more difficulty normalising their social behaviour. Already in Switzerland, where pot consumption is not illegal, we are seeing massive rises of young adults on Invalidity Pensions or other state benefits, and it rests strongly on drug habits.

One bright med student decided to do a survey of med students in his school, and found that those who were users, large or small time, had lower grades and a higher wash-out rate than those who did not do pot. Moreover, they could not handle the demands of the arduous and very long working day a med student must deal with, nor the long duty shifts - they were such poor sleepers already that they pretty much all collapsed under the pressure. The rector called, wrongly, for lighter work loads for the students, calling the time tested system "draconian", but the survey correctly showed that the problem was not how tough med school was, but the drug habits of many of the students.

Now, folks, when you go to your doctor, who is making life or death decisions about you, do you want the one that was clean, bright eyed and sharp, who took top grades and survived the toughest training this side of the SAS, or do you want the one who smoked doobies, did all right and could not hack the tough demands of the trial by fire system of medical training? I know which one I prefer.

[Sleepster]

To me all this study tells us is that people who report marijuana use also report problems sleeping.

One bright med student decided to do a survey of med students in his school, and found that those who were users, large or small time, had lower grades and a higher wash-out rate than those who did not do pot.

So people who are less motivated and less successful in med school smoke pot. Maybe if you prevent them from using pot they'll still be less motivated and less successful than other people who are more motivated and more successful.

In other words some people are lazy and those people are more inclined to smoke pot. And of course smoking pot is just going to make you more lazy. A vicious cycle.

[Bompa]

So...that's why Cheech and Chong aren't around as much anymore.

[DocWils]

So people who are less motivated and less successful in med school smoke pot. Maybe if you prevent them from using pot they'll still be less motivated and less successful than other people who are more motivated and more successful.

Erm, no, that is not what the data suggested. Unlike the US, where some people drift into medicine from family pressure or the lure of money and possibly prestige, the Swiss system doesn't seem to attract that sort of thing - you have to really want it to get into med school here. There is a high level of motivation from the start.

What the data suggested was that the damage was done, and made progressively worse by continued use.

In other words some people are lazy and those people are more inclined to smoke pot. And of course smoking pot is just going to make you more lazy. A vicious cycle.

The data sort of suggest that smoking pot makes you more "lazy"(not the word I would use), not that being lazy would more incline you to smoke pot. But yes, it is a vicious cycle.

[Doc J]

Speaking of "Cheech" Marin? On an interview they asked him the first thing he did or would do in the morning and he said take off his cpap mask, so he is a fellow papper and a talented actor and chicano art buff.

[retired_guy]

Marijuana Linked with Impaired Sleep Quality

Results show that any history of cannabis use was associated with an increased likelihood of reporting difficulty falling asleep.............

Well duh!!! Who can sleep when you've got the munchies?