LivingMarijuana use during pregnancy linked to increased risk of...
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Marijuana use during pregnancy linked to increased risk of autism in babies

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For some years, the use of marijuana during pregnancy has been reported, because many women supposedly use it to help relieve the nausea that usually appears during pregnancy.

However, several studies have analyzed its effects, finding that its use in pregnancy is not recommended, and now one more is added to the list, as new research has linked the use of marijuana in pregnancy with the risk of autism in babies .

Through the review of more than 500,000 births in the Canadian province of Ontario, between April 2017 and March 2012, the study published in the journal Nature Medicine and carried out by researchers from the Ottawa Hospital, analyzed the effects of the consumption of the marijuana in pregnancy and its impact on the neural development of babies .

When analyzing the risk of autism, the researchers found that while 1.4% of the children whose medical history was reviewed were diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), in the case of mothers who had used marijuana in pregnancy, the figure increased to 2.2% .

This increase was present even in those who reported marijuana as the only illicit substance they used during their pregnancy. Of the total number of participating mothers, 3,000 of them reported having used it during their pregnancy .

Although this study does not show a cause-effect relationship or prove that the use of marijuana in pregnancy causes autism, it does show that there is an association between these two factors , although it did not delve much into other important factors such as the amount of marijuana consumed , the frequency or the quarter in which this took place.

The researchers mention that these results join those of other studies that have found the negative effects of marijuana use during pregnancy , such as low birth weight, premature deliveries, smaller babies and even stillbirth, and strongly discourage the use of marijuana in both pregnancy and lactation.

Photo | Unsplash
Via | CNN
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