The present and future of the cannabis market 1:55
(CNN) -
Whether you smoke it, vape it, or in an edible form, cannabis may be significantly increasing your risk of having a heart attack (also called a myocardial infarction).
Adults under the age of 45 who used cannabis in the past 30 days had nearly twice as many heart attacks as adults who did not use the drug, according to research published Tuesday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
Cannabis refers to the psychoactive preparations of the
Cannabis sativa
plant
, whose psychoactive chemical is tetrahydrocannabinol or THC, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Researchers analyzed the health data of more than 33,000 adults between the ages of 18 and 44 included in the surveys of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the United States in 2017 and 2018. Of 17% of adults who reported having used cannabis in the previous month, 1.3% subsequently had a heart attack, while only 0.8% of non-cannabis users reported the same.
Some people assume that cannabis use is safe and cannot harm your body, but that is incorrect, said study lead author Dr. Karim Ladha, a clinician-scientist and anesthesiologist on the staff of St. Michael's Hospital and University. from Toronto in Canada.
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"There is growing evidence that this could be potentially harmful to you, both in the short and long term," he said.
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Cannabis can cause an irregular heartbeat
The study did not investigate how cannabis affects heart health, Ladha said, but noted that previous research has shown that the drug can affect a user's heart rate.
When a person's heartbeat becomes irregular, it can increase the amount of oxygen the heart needs, Ladha explained.
At the same time, cannabis can also limit the amount of oxygen reaching the heart, he added.
"What you end up having is this mismatch between oxygen supply and demand, which fundamentally leads to heart attacks," Ladha added.
Modern cannabis is extremely potent
Cannabis sold today is also much more potent than that sold in the past 50 years, said Robert Page, president of the American Heart Association's (AHA) scientific statement on cannabis. .
Page was not involved in the study.
"This is not what your grandfather used to smoke at Woodstock; this is very potent," he said.
Many people are unaware that cannabis can have negative effects with other medications, Page added.
Like most drugs, cannabis is metabolized in the liver, which means it can interact with many cardiovascular drugs, such as blood thinners, he said.
"Balancing the risks and benefits"
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The AHA research also details the potential benefits of cannabis use for pain relief and other medical purposes, but the negative consequences should not be ignored, said study co-author Dr. David Mazer, an anesthetist at St. Michael's Hospital and Professor of the departments of anesthesia and physiology at the University of Toronto (Canada).
Both cannabis users and their healthcare providers must "balance the risks and benefits of cannabis in their own specific context," Mazer said.
The AHA does not recommend smoking or vaporizing cannabis in any amount, Page said.
His researchers have looked at a possible link to strokes, and cannabis use has been linked to lung damage, he said.
Going forward, Ladha said she wants to study cannabis users in real time, rather than looking back at survey results.
This type of study is difficult to carry out because cannabis is not legal in all states or at the federal level in the US, he noted.
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