medical device guru

Cannabis Increases Risk of Stroke and Heart Attack

Cardiovascular / Cardiology March 15, 2017

Cannabis itself is harmful to cardiovascular health and increases the chance of early death regardless of related factors such as smoking tobacco, new research reveals.

Cannabis

Data taken from more than 1,000 US hospitals found that people who used the drug had a 26 percent higher chance of suffering a stroke than those who did not, and a 10 percent higher chance of having a heart attack.

The findings held true after taking into account unhealthy factors known to affect many cannabis smokers, such as obesity, alcohol misuse and smoking.

 This leads us to believe that there is something else going on besides just obesity or diet-related cardiovascular side effectsDr Aditi Kalla, Einstein Medical Center, Philadelphia

They indicate there is something intrinsic about cannabis which can damage the proper functioning of the human heart.

“Even when we corrected for known risk factors, we still found a higher rate of both stroke and heart failure in these patients, so that leads us to believe that there is something else going on besides just obesity or diet-related cardiovascular side effects,” said Dr Aditi Kalla, Cardiology Fellow at the Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia and the study’s lead author.

“It’s important for physicians to know these effects so we can better educate patients.”

Previous research in cell cultures has shown that heart muscle cells have cannabis receptors relevant to contractility, or squeezing ability, suggesting that those receptors might be one mechanism through which marijuana use could affect the cardiovascular system.

Read more – Source: Cannabis boosts risk of stroke and heart attack, independent of tobacco, new study finds

AUTHOR - Authorship Credit Noted Above
SHARE
FDA Clears ReddyPort® Non-Invasive Ventilation Device
Diagnostics & Healthcare News
THINK Surgical Receives FDA 510(k) Clearance for TMINI Miniature Robotic System
Surgery and Surgical Robotics
YOUR FIRST STEP TO SUCCESS
IS JUST A CLICK AWAY
Search our current open opportunities to take your first step to success in Medical Device and Healthcare IT today. Focusing on you and your career is our Job, now it’s time for you to find yours. Let’s get started.
VIEW JOBS