When it comes to the link between stroke and marijuana, research is divided. On one hand, some experts say that smoking cannabis can up the risk of stroke among non-patients. Other researchers, however, have found that weed use following a stroke can be helpful in reducing damage.
Stroke is one of the leading death causes. The condition has high blood pressure and cholesterol levels as key risk factors.
Cannabis can help with stroke recovery by increasing focus and decreasing brain inflammation. Marijuana though, doesn’t have much favor on its side due to its high THC content. Some think tetrahydrocannabinol can hamper brain performance.
Now a set of two new studies has found that regularly smoking pot damages your cardiovascular and brain health. The first experiment showed that it can raise the risk of stroke by twice. The second one found that frequent pot smokers are at a high risk of developing arrhythmia.
These findings are soon to be presented at the annual meeting of the American Heart Association.
First Study on Stroke Risk
Currently, marijuana is enjoying its best time. Cannabis advocates are promoting the herb for its many health benefits. This is why these findings are all the more important as experts are already worried that despite the fame, cannabis is not backed by enough research.
For the purpose of the study, the team of scientists looked at the data of 43,000 adults from a survey. These participants were between the age bracket of 18 to 44. Of these people, 14% said that they had used pot in the last month.
Results showed that pot smokers had a 2.5x higher risk of stroke in comparison to those who didn’t smoke. Though this study was merely observational, its findings are backed by previous ones which say that marijuana can elevate blood clotting. It can also cause the narrowing of arteries.
Second Study on Heart Disease Risk
For the second trail, researchers compared 570,000 individuals who had been hospitalized because of arrhythmia with 67 million of those who had been hospitalized due to other causes. Scientists particularly looked for those who also had a diagnosis for cannabis use disorder.
They found that those between the ages of 25 to 34 who had CUD had 52% higher chances of arrhythmia hospitalization. On the other hand, those between 15 to 24 years of age had an irregular heartbeat due to frequent pot smoking.
Experts have already noticed the effects of cannabis on the heartbeat of a person. A low dosage of the herb increases heartbeat, while a high dosage decreases it.
Concluding Thoughts
These studies shed light on the importance of discussing your health condition and cannabis use with your doctor. Doctors should question heart and stroke patients regarding their marijuana use to guide them better.
Even though the research works conducted had limitations, they open up an important argument. Perhaps cannabis is not as safe as it has gained a reputation to be.
