Thursday, July 20, 2023

Cannabis linked to epigenetic changes: science

Rebecca Dyer, ScienceAlert, 7/20/23; Ananda (DBM), CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
There's a better to access "altered states" than drugs. Meditation expands consciousness.


Cannabis use linked to epigenetic changes, scientists discover
Is it a magic plant or a genetic coincidence?
Using cannabis [weed, pot, marijuana] may cause changes in the human body's epigenome [the top (epi-) portion of our genetic code that turns other instructions on and off], a study of over 1,000 adults suggests.

The epigenome functions like a set of [on and off] switches, activating or deactivating genes [instructions] to change how our bodies function.

Epigenetics ("above genetics") definition  - Wikipedia
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Smoking largely replaced by gummy candies
"We observed associations between cumulative marijuana use and multiple epigenetic markers across time," says Dr. Lifang Hou, a preventative medical doctor and epidemiologist from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

Cannabis is a commonly used substance in the United States, with 49 percent of people [admitting to] trying it at least once, Dr. Hou and a team of US researchers report in their published paper.

Some US states and other countries have made it legal [due to US pressure], but we still don't fully understand its effects on our health.

The researchers studied around 1,000 adults who had participated in a long-term previous study where they had been asked about their cannabis use over a 20-year period. Study participants provided blood samples on two occasions during that time, at the 15- and 20-year points.

They were aged between 18 and 30 at baseline, or "year 0."  Using these blood samples from five years apart, Dr. Hou and her team looked at the epigenetic changes, specifically DNA methylation levels, of people who had used cannabis recently or for a long time. More

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