Cannabis use could lead to a ‘significant’ increase in the risk of heart attacks and strokes, even when people consume edibles, a study suggests.
Researchers in Massachusetts and California spent four years evaluating more than 400,000 American adults in 27 states to investigate the link between cannabis use and problems such as heart disease and stroke.
The team found that any type of cannabis use – smoking, vaping or edibles – “was associated with a greater number of adverse cardiovascular outcomes.”
And those who used marijuana daily had a 25 percent higher risk of heart attack and 42 percent higher risk of stroke.
This may be because the active ingredient in cannabis, THC, is thought to trigger the body’s fight-or-flight response, causing heart rate and blood pressure to increase. Over time this wears on the heart.
The findings come amid other recent research linking marijuana use to heart problems, with researchers calling on doctors to educate patients more about the risks.
Cannabis use could lead to ‘significant’ increase in heart attacks (stock)
Marijuana is generally considered a low-risk drug, but consistent use can cause a host of health risks, including severe depression, poor sleep and dependence.
Dr. Abras Jeffers, lead author of the study and a data scientist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, said: ‘Despite its widespread use, little is known about the risks of cannabis use and, in particular, the risks of cardiovascular disease.’
‘The perception of the harmfulness of smoking cannabis is decreasing and people do not consider cannabis use to be dangerous to their health.’
The team recruited 430,000 patients in 27 states and two U.S. territories. The participants were between 18 and 74 years old, and the average age was 45 years.
About half were women and half men. About 60 percent identified as white, 11.6 percent were black, 19.3 percent were Hispanic and the remainder were a mix of other races.
Nearly 90 percent of participants said they did not use cannabis at all. About seven percent said they used it non-daily, and four percent did so every day.
Of those who did use cannabis, 74 percent said smoking was their preferred form of consumption.
More than 60 percent used cannabis, but had never smoked tobacco cigarettes.
The data was collected through the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, a national survey conducted annually by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
“Our sample was large enough to examine the association between cannabis use and cardiovascular outcomes among adults who had never used tobacco cigarettes or e-cigarettes,” said Dr. Jeffers.
The researchers found that smoking, eating or vaping cannabis was associated with a ‘significant’ increase in the risk of heart disease and stroke, and the more days a person smoked, the more likely adverse effects were to occur.
However, the team noted that this increased risk was consistent with other known risks of heart disease and stroke, such as alcohol, body mass index (BMI), type 2 diabetes and lack of physical activity.
They also found that daily cannabis users were 25 percent more likely to develop heart disease and 42 percent more likely to have a stroke.
And younger adults – men under 55 and women under 65 – who were already at risk for cardiovascular disease had a combined 36 percent higher risk of heart disease, coronary artery disease and stroke.
‘Our research shows that smoking cannabis poses significant cardiovascular risks, just like smoking tobacco,’ said Dr Jeffers.
‘This is especially important as cannabis use increases and conventional tobacco use decreases.’
Researchers are still working to unravel exactly why this happens, although THC is thought to activate the body’s fight-or-flight response, which typically occurs during stress or anxiety.
When fight-or-flight is activated, it leads to a higher heart rate and blood pressure. Over time, this causes the heart to work harder to pump blood to the rest of the body.
This can wear out the heart and lead to conditions such as heart disease and stroke.
The findings join other recent research suggesting that cannabis use may have detrimental effects on heart and lung health.
For example, a study published in November found that among 160,000 adults over age 54, those who smoked marijuana daily had a 34 percent higher risk of heart failure.
The above shows cannabis use in US states. 24 have fully legalized it for recreational use
The link between recreational marijuana use and alcohol use in recent years has been greatest among younger adults aged 18 to 24
Additionally, doctors at Stanford University found that the more a person used cannabis, the more likely they were to be diagnosed with coronary artery disease (CAD), the most common form of cardiovascular disease, which can lead to heart failure.
According to federal data, CAD killed more than 382,000 Americans in 2020 and about 20.1 million Americans aged 20 and older have the disease.
Marijuana use causes the heart to beat faster and blood pressure to rise, both of which are believed to increase a person’s risk of developing CAD.
According to researchers at the University of Ottawa, cannabis users are also slightly more likely to develop lung disease than cigarette users.
Those researchers looked at about 150 adults in Canada who had an average age of 50 and were either marijuana users, tobacco smokers or non-smokers.
Three-quarters of marijuana users had emphysema – a lung disease that causes patients to have trouble breathing – compared to two-thirds of tobacco users.
Only one in twenty non-smokers suffered from the condition, which kills more than 120,000 Americans every year.
The authors noted that the study had several limitations, especially because patients self-reported their cannabis use and cardiovascular disease. They said more large-scale research is needed.
The research was published in the journal on Wednesday Journal of the American Heart Association.