November 6, 2023 – Regular use of marijuana can significantly increase an individual's risk of heart attack, heart failure and stroke, based on two recent studies presented at a serious upcoming medical conference.
People who use marijuana every day have a 34% increased risk of heart failure in comparison with individuals who don't use the drug, based on a brand new study.
The recent Results Leverage health data from 157,000 people within the National Institutes of Health's All of Us research program. The researchers analyzed whether marijuana users were more prone to develop heart failure than non-users over a period of nearly 4 years. According to the outcomes, coronary heart disease was the explanation for the increased risk of marijuana users. (Coronary artery disease is the buildup of plaque on the partitions of the arteries that offer blood to the center.)
The investigation was conducted by a team from Medstar Health, a big health system in Maryland that operates 10 hospitals and tons of of clinics. The results will likely be presented next weekend on the American Heart Association's 2023 Scientific Sessions in Philadelphia.
“Our findings should encourage more researchers to study marijuana use to better understand its health effects, particularly on cardiovascular risk,” said researcher Yakubu Bene-Alhasan, MD, MPH, a physician at Medstar Health in Baltimore. “We want to provide the public with high-quality information about marijuana use and help make state-level policy decisions, educate patients and guide healthcare professionals.”
According to this, around one in five people within the USA uses marijuana CDC. The majority of US states allow the legal use of marijuana for medical purposes, and greater than 20 states have legalized recreational marijuana, a tracker from the National Conference of State Legislatures shows.
A second study presented on the conference shows that older individuals with a mix of type 2 diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol who use marijuana are at increased risk of have a serious heart or brain event.
Researchers analyzed data from greater than 28,000 people ages 65 and older who had health problems that put them in danger for heart problems and whose medical records showed they were marijuana users but not tobacco users. The Results had a minimum of a 20% increased risk of heart attack, stroke, cardiac arrest or arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat).
The findings are significant because medical examiners have long said research on the long-term health effects of marijuana use is proscribed.
“The latest research on cannabis use suggests that smoking and inhaling cannabis increases the concentration of carboxyhemoglobin (carbon monoxide, a poisonous gas) and tar (partially burned flammable substances) in the blood, similar to the effects of inhaling a tobacco cigarette, which “both are related to myocardial disease, chest pain, cardiac arrhythmias, heart attacks and other serious illnesses,” said Robert L. Page II, PharmD, MSPH, chair of the volunteer writing group for the American Heart Association's 2020 Scientific Statement: Medical Marijuana, Recreational Cannabis and cardiovascular health, in a opinion. “Along with the results of these two research studies, the cardiovascular risks of cannabis use are becoming increasingly clear and should be carefully considered and monitored by health professionals and the public.”