- Researchers say frequent cannabis use can raise the risk of a heart attack in adults younger than 45.
- The reason for the connection isn’t entirely known, but experts say it could be related to higher heart rates and blood pressures attributed to cannabis use.
- The actual number of heart attacks in study participants was low, but experts say the new study provides individuals and healthcare professionals with information to consider before cannabis use.
A new study released Sept. 7 says adults younger than 45 years old who use cannabis were twice as likely to have had a heart attack, with the likelihood greater in more frequent users.
The number of incidents of heart attack was still small among the study participants.
Nonetheless, researchers report that the findings, published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, line up with other studies demonstrating a link between frequent cannabis use and heart attacks (acute myocardial infarction) in hospital settings.
The latest study examines the frequency of cannabis use and method of consumption with the risk of heart attack in younger adults who typically aren’t at high risk because of their age.
“With recent legalization and decriminalization, cannabis use is increasing in young adults in North America, and we do not fully know its effects on cardiovascular health,” Dr. Karim Ladha, a clinician scientist at Unity Health Toronto, said in a press release. “We found an association between recent cannabis use and myocardial infarction, which persisted across an array of robust sensitivity analyses.
“This association was consistent across different forms of cannabis consumption, including smoking, vaporization, and other methods such as edibles,” Ladha added. “This suggests that no method of consumption is safer than another in this regard.”
Source: healthline