Summary: Researchers are investigating how cannabis affects ADHD symptoms, focusing on its interactions with the body’s endocannabinoid system. Evidence suggests cannabis influences attention, hyperactivity, and anxiety, but the findings are limited due to legal restrictions and the complexity of ADHD presentations.
Cannabidiol (CBD) products, often preferred for avoiding THC’s psychoactive effects, lack sufficient scientific backing for ADHD treatment. The review highlights the variability in cannabis products and pathways, underscoring the need for more rigorous studies.
Key Facts:
- Cannabis interacts with the endocannabinoid system, influencing ADHD symptoms.
- The research is limited by variability in products, pathways, and ADHD presentations.
- CBD shows promise, but scientific evidence for ADHD treatment remains insufficient.
Source: Thomas Jefferson University
Whether marijuana itself or various products containing cannabinoids and/or THC, the main psychoactive compound in weed – have been touted as panaceas for everything from anxiety and sleep problems to epilepsy and cancer pain.
Nursing researcher Jennie Ryan, PhD, at Thomas Jefferson University, studies the effects of cannabis on symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Current medical guidelines for ADHD include medications such as Adderall and cognitive behavioral therapy. As with most treatments, the benefits can be accompanied by downsides.
“Parents are interested in cannabidiol, which does not contain THC,” Dr. Ryan says. “But we don’t have the science yet to back recommendations.”
In a recent review paper, Dr. Ryan and her colleagues plumbed the scientific literature to compile evidence, which is generally suggestive of interactions between cannabis and ADHD.
The researchers focused on how cannabis use affects ADHD symptoms. Furthermore, the human body produces its own cannabinoids – the endocannabinoid system – which led the researchers to wonder how might this endogenous system influence ADHD?
They scrutinized clinical and preclinical findings, which together suggest that cannabis affects the endocannabinoid system in a variety of ways to affect attention, hyperactivity and anxiety.
“A relationship is there,” Dr. Ryan says.
However, the picture is complicated by the sheer variety of cannabis products used, the many types of endocannabinoids and their biological pathways and the variability of ADHD presentation in people.
Teasing all these factors apart, she says, “is super complicated.” In addition, cannabis researchers are hobbled by legal restrictions around marijuana.
Co-author Brooke Worster, MD, who specializes in pain management and palliative care, says she suspected the published evidence would be sparse.
When that was indeed what they found, “I wasn’t super surprised,” she says.
“Still, it is shocking how many holes there are. We have a lot of work ahead.”
Drs. Ryan and Worster plan to publish results from a second survey of cannabis use in adults with ADHD.
About this neuropharmacology and ADHD research news
Author: Karuna Meda
Source: Thomas Jefferson University
Contact: Karuna Meda – Thomas Jefferson University
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News
Original Research: Open access.
“Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Cannabis Use, and the Endocannabinoid System: A Scoping Review” by Jennie Ryan et al. Developmental Psychobiology
Abstract
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Cannabis Use, and the Endocannabinoid System: A Scoping Review
There is emerging evidence that the endocannabinoid system (ECS) plays a significant role in the pathophysiology of many psychiatric disorders, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Increasing evidence suggests that a number of neurobiological correlates between endogenous cannabinoid function and cognitive dysfunction are seen in ADHD, making the ECS a possible target for therapeutic interventions.
Cannabis use and cannabis use disorder are more prevalent in individuals with ADHD, compared to the general population, and there is growing popular perception that cannabis is therapeutic for ADHD.
However, the relationship between cannabis use and ADHD symptomology is poorly understood. Further understanding of the role of the ECS in ADHD pathophysiology and the molecular alterations that may be a target for treatment is needed.
To further the science on this emerging area of research, this scoping review describes the preclinical and clinical evidence seeking to understand the relationship between the ECS and ADHD.
