Emergency medicine physicians are noticing a rise in cases of a once-rare syndrome tied to cannabis use.
“It seems like we’re seeing more and more cases,” Leigh Vinocur, MD, a medical cannabis expert and spokesperson for the American College of Emergency Physicians and the Society of Cannabis Clinicians, tells Health.
Other symptoms, according to a 2016 review in the Journal of Medical Toxicology, include nausea, abdominal pain, and compulsive showering or hot baths as a means of seeking symptom relief.
While the syndrome was described in medical literature as early as 2004, researchers still don’t know a lot about why some cannabis users develop symptoms and others do not.
Habboushe is the lead author of a study conducted in 2015 that surveyed emergency department patients, ages 18 to 49, who reported smoking marijuana at least 20 days a month.
A 2018 review in the American Journal of Therapeutics points out that the rise in CHS cases poses challenges for the health care system.
Vinocur adds, because the desire to hop into a hot bath or shower is a “good clue” that cannabis use is the cause.
Four doctors in Colorado, per the NBC News report, cited an increase in the number of patients who exhibit psychiatric issues, including psychosis, after consuming potent marijuana.
While chronic smoking or vaping are risk factors for CHS, acute intoxication usually occurs when people ingest cannabis, say by popping gummies containing THC.