American doctors have seen an increase in chronic cannabis users experiencing a potentially devastating vomiting condition.
“Scromiting,” named after patients “screaming and vomiting” as they seek medical help in agony, is becoming a familiar sight in emergency rooms, doctors say.
Known medically as cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome (CHS), the condition is not fully understood by doctors, but it can also cause seizures, kidney failure, and even prove fatal.
Experts believe that symptoms appear after people use or consume large amounts of marijuana over a long period of time, about a decade.
One doctor said doctors now refer to CHS as a “core” diagnosis as it has become so common. Another said he sees it “every week, if not every day.”
Scromiting, doctors say, is becoming a familiar sight in emergency rooms, where patients ‘scream and vomit’ when they come for help.
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Marijuana advocates often claim that it is a safe drug because it is “natural.”
However, scientists have previously suggested that the active ingredient in cannabis, THC, triggers the body’s fight or flight response, increasing heart rate and blood pressure.
He New York Times The research found that doctors are seeing “more and more” cases of CHS and doctors say it is now a “common” problem.
Symptoms of CHS include repeated vomiting and retching, severe abdominal pain.
One Ohio doctor said “those patients look very sick” and described them as “writhing in pain.”
One telling aspect of this condition, which is not yet understood, is how hot water often relieves symptoms.
But ironically, this in itself can cause injury, as sufferers spend hour after hour in hot baths or showers trying to soothe their symptoms, sometimes to the point of burning themselves.
A similar effect has been observed using special capsaicin, a substance found in chili peppers that turns them into spicy medicinal creams.
How long CHS lasts or how long it takes to develop, and why it affects some people and not others, is still being explored, but the first signs can last for years.
This subsequently progresses to a point where people suffer the schromitation phase which can last for days before disappearing. However, it may return.
The only known way to prevent CHS from recurring is for users to stop using cannabis products.
Experts aren’t sure what causes CHS to develop, but the condition has often been found in adults who have used marijuana since adolescence.
Current theories as to why this condition occurs in the first place include that prolonged exposure to the drug overstimulates some of the body’s receptors, which in turn destabilizes the vomit reflex.
Some doctors have also mentioned the increased potency of cannabis products as a potential factor explaining why cases appear to be increasing.
However, doctors are not clear exactly how many CHS sufferers there are, but cases have been observed to increase in states where cannabis has been legalized.
The situation is also complicated because some patients do not reveal their drug use when they seek help.
But at least eight people are known to have died from complications of CHS in the United States since it was first identified in 2004.
In June, a chronic marijuana user died after the condition caused a fatal heart rhythm disorder.
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The 22-year-old woman, who was treated in Canada, began using marijuana at age 14 and had been suffering from multiple attacks of severe CHS for three years.
When he was admitted to the hospital with vomiting and abdominal pain, he developed a specific life-threatening irregular heartbeat, called torsades de pointes, which caused his heart to stop.
While doctors were able to restart her heart, her brain had already suffered a catastrophic loss of oxygen and four days later she was declared brain dead.
Researchers have estimated that up to one-third of heavy marijuana users may be experiencing symptoms of this condition (approximately 6 million Americans).
A woman, from Elgin, in the US state of Illinois, turned to the drug in 2019, aged 40, when a doctor suggested it could help her with her severe migraines.
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As such, whenever Jennifer Macaluso felt a headache coming on, she would take a hit from a marijuana vaporizer or consume an edible version of the drug.
But after several months, he told the New York Times that he developed stomach pains.
After a dispensary employee advised him to increase his intake, he says, he eventually began using the medication almost every day.
After a few months, episodes of nausea and vomiting came so debilitating that she had to stop working.
Cannabis use has seen a meteoric rise over the past decade, culminating in legal recreational use in 24 states.
Meanwhile, in the UK, laws on the medical use of cannabis were relaxed six years ago.
This has allowed specialist doctors to prescribe medications made from the drug to some patients with epilepsy, or treat vomiting related to cancer treatment and symptoms of multiple sclerosis.
In June, a chronic marijuana user died after the condition caused a fatal heart rhythm disorder. CT scans of the woman’s brain showed the extent of damage caused by lack of oxygen when her intense vomiting caused a fatal irregular heartbeat. The folds of the brain have flattened and the entire brain has swollen.
The woman’s heart rate was disorganized and at times very low and other seconds very high. The photo above is an example of an irregular heartbeat.
THC stimulates areas of the brain related to mood, attention and memory, while triggering the release of the hormone dopamine, responsible for feelings of reward and pleasure.
According to studies, small, infrequent doses have little long-term impact.
But with prolonged, regular use, signals in these key areas of the brain can begin to fail.
Studies have shown that frequent cannabis use can increase the risk of serious mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, as well as insomnia, social anxiety disorder, and suicidal thoughts.
A 2019 study by researchers at Kings College London also found that daily use of high-potency marijuana can increase the risk of psychosis among users five-fold.
The latest figures show that cannabis remains the most popular drug among 16-59 year olds in England and Wales.
Last year, use was highest among 20- to 24-year-olds, with almost one in six people in this group using it, official figures show.
Last year, 32 deaths in England and Wales and around 300 in the United States were attributable to marijuana.
