Cannabis and Your Heart
Should cannabis smokers be concerned about the effects of their use on the health of their hearts? Although there have been a number of studies on the issue, there is still no definitive conclusion.
In France, health care providers are legally required to report serious cases of substance abuse. An article in the Journal of the American Heart Association examined this data from a five-year period and identified 1,979 cases of “marijuana abuse” in which 35 cases involved cardiovascular complications. From this small number of cases the authors concluded that cannabis use might contribute to the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD) among young and middle-aged adults.
Another study came to the opposite conclusion. Published in the American Journal of Cardiology, researchers reported that a 15-year longitudinal study of 3,617 young adults found that high blood pressure or other cardiovascular risk factors are not associated with heavy cannabis use.
A 2008 report issued by the National Institute of Drug Abuse stated that heavy cannabis use can boost blood levels of the protein apolipoprotein C-III which can cause increased levels of triglycerides. High levels of triglycerides can contribute to hardening of the arteries or thickening of the artery walls raising the risk of stroke, heart attack and heart disease.
It should be noted that the subjects in this study were really heavy cannabis consumers averaging 78 to 350 cannabis cigarettes smoked per week—that’s 11 to 50 joints per day!
“There are a plethora of other studies that show positive benefits and negative consequences from cannabis use in relation to cardiovascular health—everything from a reduction in metabolic syndrome (increased blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat, abnormal cholesterol levels—all a precursor to CVD) to second-hand cannabis smoke leading to hardening of the arteries and resultant CVD.”
Although the study did not look at whether the heavy cannabis users actually had heart disease, another study published in the America Heart Journal did. Assessing the survival rates of 3,886 heart attack survivors over an 18-year period, investigators at the Harvard Medical School concluded, “There was no statistically significant association between marijuana use and mortality.”
Coincidentally another study done at Harvard Medical School and published in the American Heart Association journal Circulation concluded that cannabis increases the risk of having a heart attack within the first hour of smoking to five times that of non-smokers. The reported five-fold cannabis risk statistic is an average. Lead researcher Dr. Murry Mittleman emphasized that “as with any risk factor for heart attack, or for heart disease in general, the risks become more pertinent as we grow older. Marijuana use is no exception.”
It should be noted that the five-fold cannabis risk is about the same as strenuous exercise and a bit higher than the heart attack risk for sexual intercourse—activities that doctors usually encourage.
Although smoking cannabis could increase the chance of a heart attack, another study found that heart attack patients with a history of cannabis use are less likely to die during hospitalization. Research scientists from the University of Colorado compared the hospital records of over 3,800 heart-attack patients who had consumed cannabis to those of over 1.2 million similarly matched controls. The data showed that the patients who had used cannabis had a lower mortality risk during hospitalization and were at lower risk for intra-aortic balloon pump placement compared to controls.
There are a plethora of other studies that show positive benefits and negative consequences from cannabis use in relation to cardiovascular health—everything from a reduction in metabolic syndrome (increased blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat, abnormal cholesterol levels—all a precursor to CVD) to second-hand cannabis smoke leading to hardening of the arteries and resultant CVD.
The bottom line of all the studies is there may be some risk and there may be some benefits, but the ultimate bottom line is that whether its yea or nay, the benefits and risks are fairly minimal. This is especially true for patients who use cannabis to reduce or replace prescription pharmaceuticals for pain, depression, anxiety and insomnia—all of which are arguably more life-threatening than any of the cardiovascular problems associated with cannabis use.
If you are using cannabis to just party and have CVD, you might want to consider moderating your intake of cannabis. Of course, if you turn to alcohol to party instead of cannabis, then (since many studies that document alcohol’s deleterious effect on the heart), maybe you should continue using cannabis.
