Two Million Heart Disease Patients Have Smoked Pot, New Study Suggests

With the rise in the number of people using marijuana and the number of states legalizing it for medicinal and recreational uses, experts have been raising questions about its safety. According to the national survey, more than 2 million Americans with established heart diseases have found to be using marijuana in different forms such as vaping and inhalation.

A new study reported cardiovascular considerations associated with marijuana use and emphasized future steps to provide clear guidance pertaining to its cardiovascular safety.

The key points summarized in the study include:

• About 90 million Americans have smoked pot at least once in their lifetime
• More than 39 million individuals have used marijuana in the past year
• About 2 million Americans with diagnosed heart diseases have smoked pot and many young adults and adolescents turning to marijuana might be at risk of CVDs in the near future
• The potency of marijuana has steadily increased in the past 30 years. Higher potency might translate to the severity of the heart’s muscles and vasculature.
• Cannabinoids can interact with drugs that are used to treat cardiovascular conditions such as statins, calcium-channel blockers, warfarin, and beta-blockers.
• Marijuana use can be a potential trigger of heart attacks
• Smoking pot has been found to bring on chest pain in those with coronary heart diseases.
• Marijuana can increase cellular stress and inflammation- the precipitating factors for heart attacks and coronary artery diseases.

The study authors urged physicians to screen their patients for marijuana use. Although further data is required, there are certain indications that marijuana use has been associated with coronary artery disease, arrhythmia, and cardiomyopathy.

“Therefore, asking patients about marijuana use may help in risk assessment. In addition, we know that marijuana use affects the metabolism of many common cardiac drugs. In order to make sure patients are getting therapeutic doses without untoward side effects, it is important for cardiologists to talk to their patients about marijuana use,” Newswise quoted the study’s author Ersilia DeFilippis, MD, a second-year cardiology fellow at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and NewYork-Presbyterian.