A new study, conducted by researchers from Nationwide Children’s Hospital and published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine found that marijuana use causes sleep disorders in teenagers.
The team of researchers from Nationwide Children’s Hospital stated that out of all the teenagers hospitalized at sleep centers due to feeling sleepy all the time or for narcolepsy, 10 percent tested positive for marijuana.
Mark L. Splaingard, MD and director of the Sleep Disorders Center at Nationwide Children’s Hospital stated that:
“We believe many of the children who had positive urine drug testing for marijuana and testing consistent with narcolepsy had improvement of the symptom of excessive day time sleepiness after enrollment in a community drug program, because most didn’t come back for repeat diagnostic studies once they were drug-free.”
The team analyzed data acquired over the past 10 years regarding 383 children. According to the results, 43 percent of the participants who were tested positive for marijuana through urine samples were also tested for narcolepsy and abnormal REM sleep patterns.
Splaingard explained that “a key finding of this study is that marijuana use may be associated with excessive daytime sleepiness in some teenagers.” He added the results show how before placing a diagnosis related to narcolepsy and starting the treatment for this type of sleep disorder, a drug test should be required.
The senior study author also explained how a urine drug test in any patient older than 13 can shed light on many of the present symptoms and even eliminate the necessity of further examination for narcolepsy. Dr. Splaingard further explained the necessity of urine drug screening when wanting to study sleep disorders in adolescents, especially now with the rising popularity of marijuana.
Sleep is very important as it keeps you mind alert and your body healthy. The REM (Rapid Eye Movement) phase is an important part of the sleep cycle as this is the period during which the brain completes examining the information and sorts it out. If you notice your child is complaining about always feeling sleepy the second thing you could do besides visiting the doctor is a cannabis test.
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