Does marijuana use lead to a high risk of stroke?

Physicians are studying effects of marijuana on strokes and heart failure
The consumption of marijuana is now widespread. More and more countries loosen their laws and often self-consumption of marijuana is already impunity. Researchers now found that using marijuana increases the risk of stroke and heart failure.

Researchers at the Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia found in an investigation that marijuana use increases the risk of stroke or heart failure. The physicians published the results of their study at the annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology.

How does the use of marijuana affect the risk of stroke or the onset of heart failure? Physicians tried to clarify exactly these questions in an evaluation of hospital records. (Image: rgbspace / fotolia.com)

Current research deals with the effects on the heart and circulation
Currently, marijuana, known medically as cannabis, is legalized in more than half of all US states for medical or personal use. However, a recent study sheds new light on the health effects of the drug on the cardiovascular health of consumers. While previous marijuana research has focused primarily on pulmonary and psychiatric complications, the new study is a handful of studies looking at cardiovascular effects, the authors explain.

Doctors need to know the side effects of marijuana
Marijuana increases the risk of stroke and congestive heart failure even after basing the data on demographic factors, other health conditions and lifestyle-related risk factors such as smoking or alcohol consumption, say the scientists. As with all other medications, whether prescribed or not, medics will try to determine the exact effects and possible side effects of cannabis, says the author. Aditi Kalla from the Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia. It is extremely important for physicians to be aware of such effects, so that patients can be better advised, for example, if they want to ask about the safety of cannabis or have a prescription for cannabis.

Study analyzes data from more than 1,000 hospitals
The study used the data from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample, which contained the health records of patients from more than 1,000 hospitals. The researchers used the records of volunteers between the ages of 18 and 55 years. All of these participants were discharged from the hospital between 2009 and 2010. At that time, the use of cannabis was still illegal in most US states, the researchers explain.

Marijuana use leads to significantly increased risks
The use of marijuana has been diagnosed in about 1.5 percent (316,000) of more than 20 million health records. When comparing cardiovascular disease rates in patients without the use of marijuana, the researchers found that the use of marijuana was associated with a significantly increased risk of stroke, congestive heart failure, coronary heart disease, and sudden cardiac death.

Use of marijuana increases the risk of stroke by 26 percent
The use of marijuana has also been linked to a variety of cardiovascular risk factors such as obesity, hypertension, smoking and alcohol consumption. After adjusting the analysis to these factors, marijuana use was associated with a 26 percent increase in stroke risk. In addition, the scientists also noted an increase in risk of ten percent in the development of heart failure.

Cannabis receptors of the heart muscle cells could cause negative effects
Research on cell cultures revealed that cardiomyocytes have cannabis receptors. Such receptors are relevant to so-called contractility, say the authors. This suggests that the receptors could be a mechanism by which the use of marijuana affects the cardiovascular system.

Results found are not necessarily related to the general population
The data sets used in the study were based on hospital records. For this reason, the findings do not necessarily reflect the general population, explain the physicians. The researchers were also unable to take into account the amount or frequency of use of marijuana, the purpose of use (recreational or medical) or the delivery mechanism (smoking or ingestion) based on the data.

Physicians hope in the future on further insights on effects of marijuana
The growing trend towards legalizing marijuana could make patients and doctors more open-minded about the use of marijuana in the future. This could lead to a better data collection and further insights about the effects and possible side effects, the scientists hope. (As)