Analysis of more than 430,000 U.S. adults reveals a link between cannabis consumption and increased risk of heart attack and stroke

The study, published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, highlights the need to be cautious about the cardiovascular effects of cannabis use, especially as legalization and accessibility of cannabis continues to expand across the United States. I’m emphasizing it.

The study, conducted by lead author Dr. Abra Jeffers, a data analyst at Massachusetts General Hospital, investigated the association between cannabis use and adverse cardiovascular disease outcomes in a diverse adult population. The study adjusted for a variety of factors, including tobacco use and other established cardiovascular risk factors, to isolate the specific effects of cannabis consumption.

Cannabis and cardiovascular disease outcomes

Findings show that all forms of cannabis use, whether smoked, eaten, or vaporized, are independently associated with higher rates of adverse cardiovascular outcomes such as coronary heart disease, heart attack, and stroke. It became clear that it was.

This association remained significant even after accounting for variables such as tobacco and e-cigarette use, alcohol consumption, BMI, type 2 diabetes, and physical activity level. Of particular concern was the observation that both regular and non-regular users of cannabis had a higher risk of heart attack than non-users. Daily cannabis users were 25% more likely to have a heart attack, and daily cannabis users were 42% more likely to have a stroke than non-users.

Even among young adults at risk for early-onset cardiovascular disease, cannabis use was significantly associated with a 36% increase in the combined odds of coronary heart disease, heart attack, and stroke, regardless of smoking status. Was.

Increase in cannabis consumption.

The study’s insights are particularly relevant given changing cannabis laws and usage patterns in the United States. Despite federal illegality, 24 states and Washington, D.C. have legalized recreational marijuana, and statistics show cannabis consumption has increased in recent decades.

The normalization of cannabis use, combined with declining awareness of its harms, emphasizes the urgency of understanding potential health risks, particularly regarding cardiovascular health.

“Awareness of the harms of smoking cannabis is decreasing, and people no longer believe that cannabis use is dangerous to their health. However, previous research has shown that cannabis may be associated with cardiovascular disease. “Our results suggest that there is a strong correlation between the two,” said Dr. Abra Jeffers, lead author of the study and a data analyst at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

Limitations within the study

Self-reported data on cardiovascular disease and cannabis use increase the potential for recall bias. At the same time, the absence of baseline health indicators such as lipid profile and blood stress further complicates interpretation. The cross-sectional design of this study limits the ability to establish causality and highlights the need for future cohort studies to longitudinally assess the relationship between cannabis use and cardiovascular disease outcomes.