Regular marijuana use may significant increase a person’s risk of developing heart failure, according to new research presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2023 in Philadelphia.
“Prior research shows links between marijuana use and cardiovascular disease like coronary artery disease, heart failure and atrial fibrillation, which is known to cause heart failure,” lead author Yakubu Bene-Alhasan, MD, a resident physician with Medstar Health in Baltimore, said in a statement. “Marijuana use isn’t without its health concerns, and our study provides more data linking its use to cardiovascular conditions.”
Bene-Alhasan et al. explored data from nearly 157,000 adults who were free from heart failure when they enrolled. The median age was 54 years old. Each participant filled out a questionnaire about their marijuana use and were then followed for nearly four years. Adjustments were made to account for various demographic, economic, health and lifestyle factors.
Overall, nearly 2% of participants included in the study went on to develop heart failure. Participants who reported using marijuana on a daily basis saw their risk of heart failure increase by a whopping 34% compared to participants who did not use marijuana at all. This risk was true for participants of all ages.
“Our results should encourage more researchers to study the use of marijuana to better understand its health implications, especially on cardiovascular risk,” Bene-Alhasan said in the same statement. “We want to provide the population with high-quality information on marijuana use and to help inform policy decisions at the state level, to educate patients and to guide healthcare professionals.”
One key limitations was that researchers did not track if the marijuana was inhaled or eaten as an edible.
Click here to view the full abstract, which was presented to AHA 2023 attendees on Nov. 13.
Michael has more than 16 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.