Health
University of Toronto Study Finds Teen Marijuana Use Tied To Dramatic Increased Risk Of Psychosis
From the Daily Caller News Foundation
A study published Wednesday found that teens who use cannabis are 11 times more likely to be diagnosed with a psychotic disorder, according to NBC News.
The study was led by researchers from the University of Toronto and examined teenage patients who used cannabis within the last year and those who did not, according to NBC News. When the study was further limited to teens who were sent to the emergency room or hospitalized, it showed a 27-fold increase in the likelihood of being diagnosed with psychotic illness.
“I think that there’s enough evidence out there for us to give recommendations that teens probably shouldn’t be using cannabis,” Andre McDonald, a postdoctoral research fellow at McMaster University and lead author of the study, said, according to NBC News. “If we can somehow ask teens to delay their use until their brain has developed a little further, I think that would be good for public health.”
While the research does not prove that cannabis use by teens causes psychosis, Dr. Leslie Hulvershorn, a child psychiatrist who was not involved with the study, argued it was unlikely that the teens were already predisposed to these kinds of mental health issues, according to NBC News. The study noted that the risk of psychosis did not spike for users between the ages of 20 and 33 and Dr. Kevin Gray, a professor of psychiatry at the Medical University of South Carolina who was not a part of the study, told NBC News that the increase in risk of psychosis likely had to do with brain development at different stages of life.
“There’s something about that stage of brain development that we haven’t yet fully characterized — where there’s a window of time where cannabis use may increase the risk of psychosis,” Gray said. “This study really puts a fine point on delaying cannabis use until your 20s may mitigate one of the most potentially serious risks.”
Another study from July 2023 found that marijuana addiction made individuals four times more likely to later be diagnosed with bipolar disorder with psychotic symptoms and two times more likely to be diagnosed with depression. Recreational marijuana use has been legalized in 24 states and Washington D.C., and 13 states have legalized the substance for medical use, according to CBS News.
Health
Lack of adequate health care pushing Canadians toward assisted suicide
From LifeSiteNews
The family of an elderly man is speaking out about the terrible hospital conditions that led their father to request euthanasia before he died of natural causes.
The family of Cleo Gratton, an 84-year-old retired diamond driller who died earlier this month in Chelmsford, Ontario, of natural causes after being approved for assisted suicide, is speaking publicly about their appalling experience in the Canadian healthcare system.
According to the CBC, the elderly man “told his family he would rather die than go back to Health Sciences North in Sudbury,” and that a recent stay there found Gratton, who was suffering from heart disease and kidney failure, spending one night in the emergency room and then being transferred to a bed sitting in the hallway on the seventh floor.
“There were no lights, all the bulbs in that hallway had been completely removed,” his daughter, Lynn, told the CBC. “The only light we had was almost like a desk lamp that had been bolted to the wall. Patients are passing by, nurses are going by, no privacy, no compassion, no dignity.” The visit took place in mid-October, after which Gratton decided to apply for “medical aid in dying,” or assisted suicide.
Lynn said that nurses had to use headlamps to inspect her father’s feet, and that the experience was “just one thing after another and it really opened our eyes to what’s going on in our hospitals. My dad said, ‘Push, push, push for change. Make people aware of what’s gong on. Open the discussion, bring it to your MP, your MPP, keep going straight up.”
His family is now honoring his wishes to speak out about his experience. The doctors and nurses, Lynn emphasized, were “amazing,” but she noted that they seem overworked. “Why are they still taking in patients if we have an overcrowding issue and they have no place to put these people?” she said.
Cleo Gratton, who died of natural causes surrounded by his family before he could go through with assisted suicide, is just the most recent of many examples of Canadians opting for assisted suicide because they could not access the care that they actually desired.
In Quebec last year, Norman Meunier, a quadriplegic man, developed bedsores after four days left on an ER stretcher without a good mattress. That experience combined with lack of available homecare pushed him to request, and receive, assisted suicide.
An unnamed woman in her 80s, referred to in a MAID report as “Mrs. B,” received MAID earlier this year after requesting but being denied palliative or hospice care. Instead, with her spouse burning out as the result of her care, a rushed MAID assessment was completed, and she died by lethal injection.
In 2022, 44-year-old Winnipeg woman Sathya Dhara Khovac died by euthanasia after failing to receive the homecare resources she had desperately sought. In her posthumous obituary, she said she could have had more time if she’d had more help.
In 2019, 41-year-old Sean Tagert was euthanized after spending years attempting to find and fund the homecare and resources he needed to stay in the community where his son lived. He did not want to die but felt that he had no other choice.
And, among other stories, at least four Canadian veterans were offered assisted suicide in lieu of the unavailable mental health supports they were requesting.
Stories of Canadians seeking palliative care, mental health resources, homecare, and other medical support finding that the only option available to them is assisted suicide have become routine over the past several years. Euthanasia has become a pressure valve for an overworked and under-funded healthcare system serving an aging population increasingly need of complex care — and if assisted suicide for mental illness is legalize, things will get much, much worse.
Dr John Campbell
Cures for Cancer? A new study shows incredible results from cheap generic drug Fenbendazole
From Dr. John Campbell
You won’t hear much about Fenbendazole from the regular pipeline of medical information. There could be many reasons for that. For one, it’s primarily known for it’s use in veterinary medicine. Somehow during COVID the medical information pipeline convinced millions that if a drug is used on horses or other animals it couldn’t work for humans. Not sure how they got away with that one considering the use of animal trials for much of modern medical history.
Another possible reason, one that makes at least as much sense, is that there’s no business case for Fenbendazole. It’s been around for decades and its patent expired in the early 1990’s. That means it’s considered a generic drug that a pharmaceutical company from India could (and does) produce in mass quantities for very little profit (compared to non-generics).
So Fenbendazole is an inexpensive, widely accessible antiparasitic drug used in veterinary medicine. During the COVID pandemic a number of doctors, desperate for a suitable treatment, tried it with reportedly great levels of success. Over some time they discovered it might be useful elsewhere. Some doctors are using Fenbendazole to help treat late stage cancer. Often this is prescribed when the regular treatments clearly aren’t working and cancer is approaching or has already been declared stage 4.
What they’ve found at least in some cases is astounding results. This has resulted in a new study which medical researcher Dr. John Campbell shares in this video.
-
Crime2 days agoCBSA Bust Uncovers Mexican Cartel Network in Montreal High-Rise, Moving Hundreds Across Canada-U.S. Border
-
Environment2 days agoThe Myths We’re Told About Climate Change | Michael Shellenberger
-
Health2 days agoLack of adequate health care pushing Canadians toward assisted suicide
-
Alberta1 day agoATA Collect $72 Million in Dues But Couldn’t Pay Striking Teachers a Dime
-
Artificial Intelligence2 days agoAI Faces Energy Problem With Only One Solution, Oil and Gas
-
Media1 day agoBreaking News: the public actually expects journalists to determine the truth of statements they report
-
Artificial Intelligence1 day agoAI seems fairly impressed by Pierre Poilievre’s ability to communicate
-
National1 day agoWatchdog Demands Answers as MP Chris d’Entremont Crosses Floor




