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Saturday, November 19, 2011

Regular Exercise May Reduce the Cravings for Marijuana: Study

Many researchers are conducted till now finding the effects of marijuana on the human body. Similarly, equal number of studies are also being conducted on how to get rid of marijuana or to reduce its use. The researchers from Vanderbilt are studying heavy users of marijuana to understand how the exercise helps in the treatment and prevention of the use.

The study was published in the journal of Plos One, which was the first to demonstrate that exercise can reduce cannabis use in a person who is strongly addicted. Participants saw a significant change in their craving after just a few sessions of running on the treadmill.

The researchers selected 12 participants, 8 female and 4 male who met the criteria of cannabis dependent and who do not want to change their habit. They were subjected to a regular tread mill session for 10-30 mts over a period of two weeks. After exercising, astonishingly, their craving for and the use of cannabis decreased by 50%.

Till now there is no medication for treating marijuana abusers. This is the first ever research that showed positive results of decreased craving for the drug after regular exercise, says the experts. Treatment admissions for cannabis dependance have risen from 7% of total addiction in 1998 to 16% by 2009. This made the researchers to work in that direction.

It is a known fact that exercise can really change the way the brain works and the way the brain responds to the world around us.

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