An increasing number of studies are showing that marijuana may not be so harmless after all.
In two new studies, to be presented later this month at the American Heart Association (AHA) Scientific Sessions 2023, researchers found that regular marijuana use increased the risk of heart attack, stroke or heart failure — even after factors like type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity were taken into account.
“Prior research shows links between marijuana use and cardiovascular disease like coronary artery disease, heart failure and atrial fibrillation, which is known to cause heart failure,” lead study author Yakubu Bene-Alhasan, M.D., MPH, a resident physician at Medstar Health in Baltimore, said in a statement. “Marijuana use isn’t without its health concerns, and our study provides more data linking its use to cardiovascular conditions.”
Funny how both studies focus on smoking though, it’s almost as if inhaling smoke isn’t healthy 🤯.
My biggest complaint with most cannabis research is the failure to subgroup results by delivery mechanism.
Do people that don’t smoke at all but use oral cannabis have higher heart complication risks, and if so how much are they elevated compared to the norm and compared to the subgroups that smoke?
But no, it’s usually just catchy headlines about “cannabis correlated with X” when I get the feeling many times it’s really “smoking things correlated with X.”
Study probably paid for by alcohol and police lobbies. Always villainise.
“Don’t attribute to malice what you can attribute to incompetence.”
Except when it’s a study that completely ignores very obvious alternative causes for its outcome. In that case, it’s reasonable to suspect malice.
I’m wondering about vaping and CBD/hemp too: I use a dry herb vape with hemp to quit smoking cigarettes. Works great but now I’m a little worried. My resting heart rate is 50 bpm and I get a decent amount of physical activity so hopefully I’m OK.
I heard vaping gives you wet popcorn lung and kills you faster than smoke.
/s
Also, drink alcohol it’s way better for you than marijyana
If you’re vaping BHO extracted products/products with added terpenes, then you are doing damage to your lungs. Dry herb vaping and live rosin excluded.
You have to be so careful with the extraction methods and diluent agents when it comes to vaping concentrates (that includes regulated vape carts–not just black market carts).
[Cannabis] extracts are not diluted in propylene glycol or glycerol like nicotine due to their hydrophobic properties. Instead, various forms of oils including vegetable oils, terpenes, and tocopheryl acetate (vitamin E acetate) have been reported as diluents. In most reported cases of EVALI, additional flavoring additives are also added to products.
Although many of these diluent agents and flavorings have been “generally recognized as safe” for oral ingestion by the FDA, recent research shows that when heated to form an aerosol and inhaled, conditions including bronchitis, bronchiolitis, acute hypoxic respiratory distress, lipoid-associated pneumonia, and pneumonitis may result. [1]
The terpenes used in vape carts to dilute and reintroduce flavor and aroma (which is lost in some extraction methods, like BHO) also produces harmful byproducts when vaped. [2]
Another problem with cheap vape pens and e-cigs is the cheap atomizers/coils used. There have been confirmed cases of these coils/atomizers leeching heavy metals into the vapor produced.[3]
It’s always important to consider the risk-mitigation approach, but a lot of people don’t comprehend that not all vaping concentrates/methods are equal, and some should absolutely be avoided.
Vaping can give you popcorn lung. Its just not as common as everyone says.
It’s been too many years since I’ve had this argument to remember the details, but it’s linked to specific additives that are usually in specific flavors. IIRC the mitigation is to not buy from sellers who use cheap flavorings and to avoid certain buttery flavors.
Vitamin E acetate. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6952050/
Well now you’ve made me google. 🙂
IIRC that’s a different problematic component.
The component that causes popcorn lung is diacetyl. https://reason.org/backgrounder/debunking-the-myth-that-vaping-causes-popcorn-lung/
I no longer vape, but when I did it wasn’t too hard to find sellers who would provide lab results or other certification that they did not use diacetyl in their flavorings.
Your link also distinguishes between the two:
vape-related injury concerning a teenage boy in Canada has recently gained the media’s attention as well. The 17-year-old boy vaped “intensively,” adding THC to his devices. He initially showed symptoms aligning with bronchiolitis (lung condition normally caused by a bacterial or viral infection), but many patients that have vape-related illnesses in the United States have experienced damage to the alveoli; this type of injury was not found. Instead, his case aligned more with an injury called “popcorn lung,” an ailment most commonly seen in factory workers of microwave popcorn plants nearly 20 years ago. This new vape-related case calls for further exploration into the toxicity of vape liquid, as the patient’s condition could have been caused by the THC added to the vaping devices, or the chemical that affected factory workers in the past - diacetyl. Diacetyl is present in many e-cigarette flavors [14]. The American Lung Association has called for the FDA to require that diacetyl and other hazardous chemicals be removed from e-cigarette cartridges.
You can look at my comment above.
BHO extracted products and ones that use additional terpenes for flavor/as a diluent agent should be avoided. This does not only apply to black market/vitamin E acetate containing carts. This very much includes mainstream carts available on the shelves of dispensaries.
THC does cause heart distress, regardless of consumption method.
CBD should be fine.
Either are better than nicotine anyway.
Important to note that the population of the study all had a history of cardiovascular health issues, and were not representative of the rest of the population.
Also important to note is the failure to assess a distinction between combustion and non-combustion consumption.
Combusting marijuana results in particulates, carcinogens [1], lack of oxygen, and off-gasses benzene. [2] These are very important factors to control for, and this distinction was not addressed at all.
Definitely in need of further studies on the topic. This is an interesting area to explore, but this study falls a little flat in addressing any causation.
First, fuck the shitty sellout who came up with the clickbait title. Smoking use was linked to those issues, not marijuana.
Second, are there any studies that show consuming edibles has negative effects?
And that is definitely not weed in the picture.
I’m on my phone so it’s a pain to try and find the original studies, but I see that in one, they didn’t account for smoking vs eating edibles, and the other seems to have mostly focused on smoking.
No surprise there. My first thought was that this was more correlation than causation - people who take cannabis are more likely to do a range of things that cause heart problems. But you may be onto something with smoking. Smoking breaks things down into all sorts of nasty carbon particulates.
Not that this rules out cannabis damage to the heart or brain, mind, but the phrase “more study is needed” cannot be emphasised enough.
In my experience ingestion route doesn’t make a difference; smoked or eaten, marijuana definitely makes my heart beat significantly faster and more irregularly and spikes my blood pressure.
And due to bad study design, this research will answer exactly 0 of these these very legitimate questions.
That sounds like an improper dosage issue to me, tbh. I only use a dry herb vape occasionally (maybe once every couple of days, sometimes I go weeks without it), but some strains with higher potency effect me like how you describe. However, I started getting super light strains (<10% THC) from the dispensary and it made a huge difference. Also, if I only take like one puff, I still get a relaxing buzz but none of that heart racing you speak of.
Anywho, worth considering.
6ish years of pretty decent on/off use only edibles and vape. My BP actually drops during use (I monitor due to previous HBP issues). This is going to be like any medicinal use, everyone will have different sides/severities.
It definitely makes a difference.
Given the extensive research around smoking and heart health, a ‘placebo’ group that was regularly smoking wood chips in blunts (or any kind of burnt vegetation) would be expected to have heart complications.
That smoking isn’t the only factor here is probable, but that it isn’t a factor at all is extremely unlikely.
Which is why research really needs to break out subgroups based on delivery mechanism.
Even if BPM is affected by non-combustion, it doesn’t mean the carcinogens, particulates, lack of oxygen, and benzene from combustion couldn’t play a key role in the cardiovascular health problems in the studies.
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IMO, an elevated heart rate after smoking could be a result of some underlying form of anxiety as well. And some strains seem to aggravate the situation.
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Yay! More bad science for click baity articles
So does tobacco use. If people are going to use this study as a reason to ban marijuana, then shouldn’t we ban tobacco as well?
Yes. From a medical standpoint tobacco is terrible, hence regulations make it more difficult to smoke all over the world.
The issue is that there are so many smokers, that they are a force to be reconned with.
If tobacco was introduced now, it would probably be on the same legal status as meth. Same with alcohol.
Uk just did today and your comment has made me realise cannabis will never be legalised in the uk
Patients with cardiovascular health issues who smoke marijuana more likely to have heart health issues?
I stopped smoking entirely because I was worried about shit like this. I’ve moved on to edibles and feel sooo much better…but now this has me nervous. Is marijuana in general? Or smoking in particular?
Smoking, this is a pointless article and clickbait
Given all of the things we as humans consume that are known to be bad for us, (here’s looking at you processed sugar) I’m in the who fucking cares camp. Let me burn a doobie and be mellow. I am definitely not trying to live forever.
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Well my dad is pushing 80 and has been smoking weed since the 60s. I’m not super concerned.
Also “I don’t want to live forever” is a flawed argument for anything health related. People tend to imagine losing years from the end of their life when they’re already old and likely to be in poor health, but what happens more often in practice is that people lose years of being healthy.
yeah pot might be a bit bad but its probably as bad as sugar and caffeine tbh
shit keeps getting studies and it keeps being harmless
sugar is literally legal cocaine its made the same way and produces the same effects and even looks the same, yet it tastes good so we cant regulate it.(or even honestly say how much is in our products in the US, EU nutrition facts r nice)
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Interesting.
However the article alludes to two things.
The age range for this study was 65 and older. That has to be taken with a grain of salt, most of these people are not as fit as they used to be.
Even after controlling for smoking, elderly cannabis users having CVD risk had 20% more MACCE events encountered than non-users. Cannabis use in older non-smokers deserves investigation into CVD. risks
However, the study doesn’t show any evidence of increased failure among people who smoke monthly or weekly, but on those who smoke daily. Which also might by synonymous with substance abuse. Which the author alludes to but does make a mention of.
That being said, this article doesn’t really go in depth and a lot of information is hidden on the surface. I would love to deep dive into the main article research paper if you have it. Because there does seem to be a few pieces of the puzzle are missing.
Could be that they’re not measuring substance abuse but the viability of smoked weed as a pain medication in people over 65.
My dad has heart and lung issues and I encouraged him to quit smoking and be mindful with the edibles. THC does bind to receptors in the heart and it is concerning with his health, regardless of consumption method.
CBD is relatively safe but can have drug interactions too because of liver substrate inhibition preventing other medication from being metabolized.
A lot of reasons to not assume weed is safe in 65 year olds who often eat a handful of other meds every day.
It’s not surprising they had more health problems if they were consuming whenever is spilling out of the pill bottle in the thumbnail.
It looks like they got an eighth out of evidence lockers after 15 years and used that for the stock photo
As a person who has used pretty much daily since 1966 and who knows many others who have done the same it has not been my experience that people are having ANY health issues due to the use of cannabis. I spend my summers with a bunch of ancient musicians. We drink alcohol, smoke pot and play music most if not all are in good health and mentally capable. We are all in our 70s and 80s. Every year we lose someone but we have not been blaming cannabis for people dying in their 80s.
That’s fair.
The other side of the coin is my ex-husband who rolled 14 joints every morning to take to work … and he smoked every one of them by himself.
There are people who are addicted, sometimes because of massive trauma they faced as a child/youth.
It would be unethical to disregard a study that simply disagrees with your personal preference or experience.
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I do not see this as the other side of the coin. I have been using pretty much daily since 1966 except for a 3 week tolerance break once a year. I use much more than your ex and have never considered myself an addict as cannabis is not in any way addictive. I have zero trouble quitting for 3 weeks every year.
Nah.
Just by doing a little sleuthing I found out some things that really point to this article being a bit more flawed than one might think.
From: https://themessenger.com/info/about-us
The Messenger launched in May 2023. It is owned by JAF Communications, Inc., a privately-owned American digital media company based in West Palm Beach with additional offices in New York and Washington, D.C. The company was founded by James Finkelstein, Chairman and CEO.
First; the news outlet breaking this story? It’s new. Brand Spanking New. So new that not even Wikipedia would recognize this site as notable.
The Messenger was founded to champion balanced journalism in an era of bias, subjectivity, and misinformation. The Messenger offers thorough, objective, non-partisan, and timely news coverage of politics, business, health, technology, international affairs, sports, travel, and more.
A noble ethos; but they really haven’t been around long enough to be able to assign a lean to their content yet. I think this is telling of their goals…to publish articles on topics that they feel are getting biased coverage.
From: https://professional.heart.org/en/meetings/scientific-sessions
Scientific Sessions 2023
Pre-Sessions Symposia & Early Career Day: November 10, 2023
Scientific Sessions: November 11–13, 2023
Hmm…
From the article: https://themessenger.com/health/marijuana-use-heart-attack-heart-failure-brain-issues
Published 11/06/23 09:08 PM ET|Updated 11/06/23 09:08 PM ET
HMMMMMmmmmm…
Yeah these dates don’t match; and the author clearly did not attend this symposium to ask questions or do appropriate research on the matter.
From: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1006523 (Emphasis added)
In a secondary analysis, when coronary artery disease was added to the investigation, the risk of heart failure dropped from 34% to 27%, suggesting that coronary artery disease is a pathway through which daily marijuana use may lead to heart failure.
Hmmm. I’m beginning to suspect this study is still kind of a pre-print and it’s not yet fully finished. Not to mention the issue that this is from a news release and lots of paraphrasing is probably at play here. If I’m understanding this correctly; the primary investigation did not even consider or take into account the effects of coronary artery disease nor would it appear that the study was crafted to screen for or account with people who already have coronary artery disease or similar problems or risk factors.
“Our results should encourage more researchers to study the use of marijuana to better understand its health implications, especially on cardiovascular risk,” Bene-Alhasan said. “We want to provide the population with high-quality information on marijuana use and to help inform policy decisions at the state level, to educate patients and to guide health care professionals.”
Hmmmmm. Do we have a bit of an agenda maybe? It’s hard to say for certain; but it sounds like they actually do want to cast doubt on the issue with relatively weak scientific evidence.
The median participant age was 54 years; 60.9% of participants were female at birth; 70.7% self-identified as white adults; 21.8% were Black or African American adults; 4.2% were Asian adults; 2.2% were identified as more than one race/ethnicity; and 1.1% were from other races/ethnicities.
I see. So we have an outsized number of older participants; who are far more likely to be at risk for heart problems.
The study enrollment began in June 2016. Participants were followed from when they enrolled until June 2022, a maximum of approximately 4 years (45 months).
Ah. Yeah. If we have been paying attention to the four year period between 2016 and 2022, we note that had a pandemic during that period too; which I suspect might also be problematic.
In a second study, different researchers evaluated data from the 2019 National Inpatient Sample, the largest nationwide database of hospitalizations, to investigate whether hospital stays were complicated by a cardiovascular event, including heart attack, stroke, cardiac arrest or arrhythmia in patients who used marijuana. Researchers extracted records on adults older than age 65 years with cardiovascular risk factors who reported no tobacco use (cigarettes or other tobacco products). This group of patient records were then divided into two groups: marijuana users and non-marijuana users. The marijuana user’s hospital records were coded for cannabis use disorder which can vary from hospital to hospital.
Yep. Older adults. It feels like they carefully selected subjects and data that would support their conclusions. Obviously this was Not a randomized controlled trial, and it should not be treated like one.
