Doctors have issued a warning to cannabis users after visits to the emergency room spiked because of a condition that has been nicknamed ‘scromiting’.
It might have a silly name, but the effects of this relatively new health phenomenon are anything but - in fact, it sounds horrible.
‘Scromiting’ is a serious issue - even if it sounds silly
Over the past decade or so, people have been turning up at the emergency room in increasing numbers suffering with severe stomach pain that becomes too much to bear in some cases.
Often, these attacks can occur a few times each year, and both the patients and the doctors aren’t exactly sure why.
When these attacks hit, they can leave the patients feeling extreme nausea, in great abdominal pain, and vomiting severely.
The cause behind this is a condition called cannabis hyperemesis syndrome (CHS), according to the Cleveland Clinic.
Cannabis users are turning up at ERs with the condition. Credit: Pexels
The symptoms can continue for days, and commonly occur within a day of cannabis use.
These symptoms can be so bad that some staff in ER have nicknamed the condition ‘scromiting’ because it is a combination of screaming and vomiting.
We told you it was seriously nasty stuff.
The condition isn’t easy to recognize or treat
Problematically, despite the increase in cases, doctors often fail to spot the signs of CHS, as it is medically quite similar to stomach flu or food poisoning.
Dr Beatriz Carlini, from the University of Washington School of Medicine, said in a statement: “A person often will have multiple [emergency department] visits until it is correctly recognized, costing thousands of dollars each time.”
Even once the condition is spotted, it isn’t easily treatable.
There are no currently approved therapies, and oftentimes anti-nausea medicine doesn’t work.
So, physicians often have to resort to other forms of treatment, such as hot baths, rubbing capsaicin cream on the stomach, or taking Haldol, which is commonly used to treat psychotic episodes.
Then there’s the recovery, as this can be a recurring problem.
Stopping cannabis is the only way to fully get rid of the condition, but some don’t want to do that, and some think it won’t happen again - until it does.
Credit: Urbazon/Getty
So far, scientists aren’t clear what the exact cause is, but one theory suggests that an overload of the endocannabinoid system could cause the nausea and sickness.
A study was published earlier this year that found that starting cannabis use later in life could be linked to the condition, although younger cases do exist.
Interestingly, overall cases were higher in states where cannabis is legal, but the number of cases in younger people were higher in states where the drug is still illegal.