Female fertility may hampered by using Marijuana

The use of marijuana for recreational and therapeutic purposes is commonly found in Western countries.

Both males and females are equally addicted to marijuana.

It is very important to know the impact of marijuana on the human reproductive system.

While very limited research focuses on this subject and it may be the primary reason for the increasing demand for marijuana day by day.

Cannabis and female fertility

Some experts have commented that frequent use of marijuana causes low libido, and poor sperm quality in the male partner, while females have ovulation issues.

Marijuana containing the psychoactive ingredient Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), is an identified bioactive cannabinoid assumed to cause fertility impairment.

However, apart from THC, more than a hundred other cannabinoids are present in marijuana.

Previously, a small-scale human trial result found that among 201 female study participants, who had a marijuana smoking history,  29 women experienced 1.7 to 3.5 days of delayed ovulation.

The researchers explained exposure to a high dose of THC leads to reduce estrogen production rate and the consequence of this causes delayed or hindered ovulation.   

Recently the Department of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Guelph in Canada has conducted an animal research study to check the effect of THC on embryo creation.

This study result has been accepted for presentation at the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in 2020.

The basic finding of this result shows THC impairs viable embryo production, and the consequence of this significantly reduces the chance of viable pregnancy.

An extensive high dose of THC containing  Marijuana or cannabis products are mainly used for recreation purpose to obtain the ultimate pleasure of the drug.

The demand for such drugs at reproductive age is increasing day by day.

However, clinical experts suggest patients who are seeking fertility treatment do not use marijuana products. 

Most often clinicians are unable to justify their advice to the IVF patients due to a lack of evidential reports. 

In the recent research conducted in Canada, medical investigators have performed research on cow eggs.

They tested the effect of THC dose equivalent to therapeutic and recreational products on female eggs. 

The researchers divide the collected eggs into five different groups and treat them an untreated group, control group, low THC group, mid THC group, and high THC group.

Researchers examined the developmental rates of eggs and their genetic expression. 

The researchers also analyzed all the embryo’s ability to achieve a critical stage of development after a definite specific time.

They found eggs treated with a high dose of THC unable to meet the checkpoints in respect of other eggs in the field of developmental ability.

A significantly lower rate of quality and developmental potential of eggs is the key indicator of the effect of THC on female fertility.

Read Also: Air pollution and Female fertility 

The exposure to THC affects the gene expression of the developmental eggs, which is clinically termed as connexins expression levels, and that causes poorer development of the embryo.

The researcher explains the developmental delay of the embryo leads to the infertility issue.

This study result also reported that in this study, the genetic impaired effect of THC affects 62 gens in comparison to the non-treated groups.

Low fertility is the result of lower quality and fertilization ability of the eggs due to THC exposure.

References        

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/04/200402134628.htm

https://www.havingbabies.com/blog-list/effects-of-marijuana-on-fertility-and-pregnancy

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *