Those With Schizophrenia Who Use Cannabis Have Significantly Lower Rates of Metabolic Syndrome, Study Finds

The findings come from a cross-sectional analysis of 988 adults diagnosed with schizophrenia who participated in the CATIE study, one of the largest clinical datasets available for this population. Researchers used hair testing to determine cannabis exposure, a method considered the gold standard for identifying long-term THC use. They found that 14.8% of participants tested positive. Those individuals were substantially less likely to meet criteria for metabolic syndrome, with a prevalence of 42.5% compared to 60.5% among non-users. Even after adjusting for factors such as age, sex, ethnicity, smoking, and other substance use, cannabis remained independently linked to lower odds of metabolic syndrome, with an adjusted odds ratio of 0.64.

The study also found that cannabis users had lower odds of elevated waist circumference after adjustment. In unadjusted analyses, they also displayed lower weight, lower BMI, lower triglycerides, and higher HDL cholesterol. Blood pressure and fasting glucose levels did not differ between the groups.

The authors caution that the cross-sectional design prevents any conclusions about causation, noting that more research is needed to understand the direction of the association. Still, the results add to a growing body of work suggesting that metabolic profiles may differ meaningfully between cannabis users and non-users in psychiatric populations.