A team of Spanish researchers has detected the first psychotic outbreak diagnosed by the use of "spice" , a synthetic drug derived from cannabis associated with locomotor problems similar to those suffered by Parkinson's patients.
This is the first time in the world that the use of this substance (synthetic marijuana) and catatonic psychosis have been linked. The drug is a psychoactive substance that in Spain is consumed by 1.1% of adolescents , according to the ESTUDES 2010 survey.
The effects detected in this first case have consisted of the loss of harmony when walking and stiffness of the neck, head and arms . Another aspect that makes this case relevant is that the motor symptoms and the stooped posture in the 'praying mantis' position persisted for months after abandoning the consumption of spice and not only during the stage of consumption of the narcotic substance.
"Until now, in the cases described, only stiffness or delayed movements had been detected during the consumption of this substance, but not later, months after having stopped using it, " says Gonzalo Haro Cortés, head of the Severe Dual Pathology program. of the Provincial Hospital of Castellón and leader of the study.
The study has been published in the journal Psychiatry .
