Cannabis users are six times more likely to experience a heart attack, according to a study published March 18 in JACC: Advances.
The study, led by researchers from the Boston University School of Medicine, will be presented March 29 at the American College of Cardiology’s Annual Scientific Session in Chicago, according to a March 18 news release from the organization.
Here are five things to know from the research:
1. For the study, researchers analyzed electronic medical records of 4.6 million patients on the TriNetX database and conducted a meta-analysis of 12 previously published studies.
2. According to the EMR analysis, cannabis users were more than six times as likely to experience a heart attack compared to non-users during an average follow-up of more than three years.
Cannabis users were four times more likely to experience ischemic stroke, two times more likely to experience heart failure and three times more likely to experience cardiovascular death, heart attack or stroke.
Data from the study was derived from the EMRs of patients who were younger than age 50, free of significant cardiovascular comorbidities.
3. The meta-analysis, which collectively encompassed data from more than 75 million people, showed cannabis users had a 50% increased risk of heart attack.
4. The results should be interpreted with the understanding that cannabis consumption is often associated with the use of additional substances, the study authors wrote.
5. “Asking about cannabis use should be part of clinicians’ workup to understand patients’ overall cardiovascular risk, similar to asking about smoking cigarettes,” Ibrahim Kamel, MD, the study’s lead author, clinical instructor at the Boston University School of Medicine and internal medicine resident at Boston-based St. Elizabeth Medical Center, said in the release. “At a policy level, a fair warning should be made so that the people who are consuming cannabis know that there are risks.”
Read the full study here.
