Marijuana may cause fetal brain damage
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Tue, 29 May 2007 15:24:00 GMT |
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STOCKHOLM, Sweden, May 29 A Swedish study suggests smoking marijuana during pregnancy may damage the fetal brain.Proper wiring of hundreds of millions of cells in the brain determines how people think, remember, move or show emotions throughout their lives, according to study leader Dr. Tibor Harkany of Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.The processes through which nerve cells recognize each other are guided by specific chemical signals.Scientists have identified that endogenous cannabinoids -- molecules naturally produced in the brain and functionally similar to THC from marijuana -- play unexpectedly significant roles in establishing how certain nerve cells connect to each other, according to the study published in the journal Science."Besides identifying a fundamental mechanism in brain development, the findings may provide new perspectives to identify the molecular changes in the brains of individuals prenatally affected by maternal cannabis abuse," Harkany said in a statement. Copyright 2007 by UPI
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