Adults with a marijuana addiction have a 60% higher risk of a first heart attack, stroke or other major cardiovascular event than those without a marijuana use disorder.
This is based on a new study Research results from the Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary in Canada are published in the journal addiction.
Researchers examined the records of nearly 60,000 Canadian patients who had not experienced an adverse cardiovascular event as of January 2012 and followed them through December 2019.Half of the study participants had a cannabis use disorder (reported by Can’t stop using marijuana Although it causes health and social problems – and half of them don’t.
Researchers found that nearly 2.5% of people with the disease experienced their first major cardiovascular event during that eight-year period, compared with only 1.5% of people without the disease. .
The study does not provide enough information to link marijuana use to adverse cardiac events, lead researcher Dr. Anees Bahji, clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at the university, said in a news release.
“But we can even say that Canadians with cannabis use disorder appear to be at a much higher risk of cardiovascular disease than people without the disorder,” he said.
Daily marijuana use linked to coronary artery disease
The results of this study are not surprising. Daily marijuana users are one-third more likely to develop coronary artery disease than those who have never smoked marijuana. A study published in February.
“There may be some previously unrecognized harms of marijuana use that people should consider,” said Dr. Ishan Paranjpe, a Stanford University physician and lead author of the study. said in a press release then.
Researchers found that monthly marijuana users did not show an increased risk of coronary artery disease.
Because of the risks of marijuana, users should keep their doctors informed of their habits to monitor heart health, the researchers said in a news release.
Marijuana smoke contains “many of the same toxins, irritants and carcinogens found in cigarette smoke, which are known to cause heart disease and cancer.” Its effects on the cardiovascular system have not been fully studied because it is illegal at the federal level , resulting in researchers being restricted, According to Harvard Health Publishing.
Cannabis is legal in Canada at the federal level.
“Therefore, we should treat all information about the effects, or inaction, of marijuana with caution.” the organization wrote. “The same goes for risk and return.”
That said, smoking marijuana has been shown to cause irregular heartbeats and rapid heartbeats, which may lead to sudden death, and increase the risk of heart attack, According to a 2017 article inside Journal of Chest Diseases. Other studies have shown a link between marijuana and atrial fibrillation, the most common heart rhythm disorder, and that smoking marijuana may increase the risk of stroke. According to Harvard Health.
Nearly half of U.S. states Recreational use of marijuana has been legalized, and most allow it for medicinal purposes. According to a survey, nearly 90% of U.S. adults believe marijuana should be legal, whether for recreational and medical use or medical use only. November 2022 Pew Research Center report.
More than 2 million Americans with known cardiovascular disease are believed to have used marijuana, According to a 2020 article Published on Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
Svlook
