Study says smoking weed causes premature aging

A new study published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence has found that smoking cannabis (marijuana) can accelerate the body’s natural aging process.

It is already known that the speed with which we age does not depend only on time. Some environmental factors also play a key role in the rate of aging. And these influences contribute to changes in epigenetics — biochemical mechanisms that alter how cells function and even heredity traits without directly messing with DNA.

In the study, done by researchers in the United States, scientists analyzed the epigenomes of 154 people. Participants were chosen at age 13 and required to report their annual level of marijuana use over a 17-year period.

In this way, the researchers used two separate epigenetic clocks to analyze blood samples from each individual.

As technology advances, science has developed tools such as “epigenetic clocks,” which analyze DNA methylation (chemical modification) patterns to determine a person’s biological age.

In this case, the study authors wanted to investigate whether smoking marijuana brings about a discrepancy between an individual’s epigenome and their actual age.

Research has found that those who use marijuana frequently, by the time they reach 30, have greater genetic activation beyond natural aging.

“Marijuana use has brought about epigenetic changes linked to accelerated aging, with evidence suggesting that the effects may be primarily due to the inhalation of hydrocarbons among marijuana smokers,” they wrote.

The study also showed that there was an observed dose-effect relationship such that only within the population of marijuana users, higher levels of lifetime use were linked to greater epigenetic acceleration of age.

The changes happened in a specific hydrocarbon receptor repressor gene called AHRR — this same gene has similar changes associated with smoking and air pollution.

The researchers believe that the epigenetic effects of aging cannabis are likely caused by the actual smoking act, rather than the ingestion of tetrahydrocarbinol (THC), the substance in marijuana, or any other active component of the herb.

“These findings are all consistent, although they cannot conclusively establish, a causal role of marijuana use in epigenetic aging,” they wrote.

Scientists say further research is needed to explore the mechanisms behind this link.

Source: CNN Brasil

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