(Press-News.org) A new study has found that Canadian adults with cannabis use disorder appear to have an approximately 60% higher risk of experiencing their first heart attack, stroke, or other major cardiovascular event than those without cannabis use disorder.
The study, published in Addiction, measured the association between problematic marijuana use and the first-time occurrence of adverse cardiovascular disease events such as heart attack, stroke, cardiac dysrhythmias, and peripheral vascular disease.
Researchers used five Canadian health databases to create a cohort of nearly 60,000 participants, half with a cannabis use disorder diagnosis and half without, matched by gender, year of birth, and time of presentation to the health system. People with prior adverse cardiovascular disease events were excluded. The participants were tracked from January 2012 to December 2019. Among people with cannabis use disorder, 2.4% (721) experienced a first-time cardiovascular disease event, compared with 1.5% (458) in the unexposed group.
Within the group of people with cannabis use disorder, people with no co-occurring medical illness, no prescriptions, and fewer than five visits to health services in the last six months had an even higher risk of a first-time cardiovascular disease event – approximately 1.4 times higher than for the rest of the cannabis-use-disorder group. This may be because those people considered themselves healthy and may not have acted on or even noticed the warning signs of an imminent heart attack, stroke, or other major cardiovascular event.
Dr. Anees Bahji, lead author of the study, emphasized the significance of these findings for public health and clinical practice. "Our study doesn’t provide enough information to say that cannabis use disorder causes adverse cardiovascular disease events, but we can go so far as to say that Canadians with cannabis use disorder appear to have a much higher risk of cardiovascular disease than people without the disorder.”
The study contributes to the ongoing dialogue surrounding the health implications of cannabis use disorder and its potential links to cardiovascular health.
-- Ends –
For editors:
This paper is available to read online after the embargo has lifted ( https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/add.16337), or you may request a copy from Jean O’Reilly, Editorial Manager, Addiction, jean@addictionjournal.org.
To speak with lead author Dr. Anees Bahji, please contact him at the University of Calgary's Cumming School of Medicine by email (anees.bahji1@ucalgary.ca).
Full citation for article: Bahji A, Hathaway J, Adams D, Crockford D, Edelman J, Stein MD, and Patten SB (2023) Cannabis use disorder and adverse cardiovascular outcomes: a population-based retrospective cohort analysis of adults from Alberta, Canada. Addiction. DOI: 10.1111/add.16337
Funding: Dr. Bahji has been awarded doctoral studies research funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Fellowship and the Alberta Innovates Foundations from the University of Calgary and has received research funding through the Calgary Health Trust. Dr. Patten is supported by the Cuthbertson & Fischer Chair in Pediatric Mental Health at the University of Calgary. Funding and support for the joint position, held by J. Hathaway, was provided through a partnership between the Canadian Research Initiative in Substance Misuse (CRISM) Prairies Node and the CRISM-Alberta Health Services (AHS) Advancement in Analytics in Addiction Partnership.
Declaration of interests: Dr. Bahji receives a small honorarium for teaching in the Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary. Dr. Bahji is an unpaid member of the Canadian Network for Mood and Anxiety Treatments editorial committee, the International Society of Addiction Journal Editors, the Canadian Society of Addiction Medicine policy committee, and the Addiction Psychiatry section of the Canadian Psychiatric Association. Dr. Bahji is an unpaid associate editor of the Canadian Journal of Addiction and a mental health educator for TED-Ed, where he receives a small honorarium. The other authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.
Data support: Administrative data analytical support was provided by the Canadian Research Initiative in Substance Misuse (CRISM) Prairies Node via the CRISM-Alberta Health Services (AHS) Advancement in Analytics in Addiction Partnership.
Addiction is a monthly international scientific journal publishing peer-reviewed research reports on alcohol, substances, tobacco, gambling, editorials, and other debate pieces. Owned by the Society for the Study of Addiction, it has been in continuous publication since 1884.
END
Cannabis use disorder may be linked to increased risk of cardiovascular disease
2023-09-28
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Fish reveal cause of altered human facial development
2023-09-28
Some substances in medicines, household items and the environment are known to affect prenatal child development. In a study published in Toxicological Sciences, researchers tested the effects of five drugs (including caffeine and the blood thinner warfarin) on the growth of zebrafish embryos. They found that all five had the same effect, impairing the migration of bone-forming cells which resulted in the onset of facial malformation. Zebrafish embryos grow quickly, are transparent and develop outside of the parent’s body, ...
How safe is your sushi?
2023-09-28
Sushi has become everyday fare in Norway and elsewhere around the globe, and many people opt for sashimi and other raw fish when they want to treat themselves to something tasty.
It is important to emphasise here that, as a general rule, it is completely safe to eat this type of food in Norway. However, despite the fact that sushi can be delicious, it also carries a health hazard, both for individuals and for society at large.
“Bacteria in sushi, sashimi and cold-smoked fish products can pose a risk to people who eat such foods frequently, especially people with weak immune systems, children and the elderly,” says Hyejeong Lee.
She recently completed her PhD at the Department ...
Job loss is linked to increased risk of miscarriage and stillbirth
2023-09-28
Researchers have found a link between a pregnant woman or her partner losing their job and an increased risk of miscarriage or stillbirth.
The study, which is published today (Thursday) in Human Reproduction [1], one of the world’s leading reproductive medicine journals, found a doubling in the chances of a pregnancy miscarrying or resulting in a stillbirth following a job loss.
The researchers, led by Dr Selin Köksal from the Institute for Social and Economic Research at the University of Essex, UK, ...
Protein p53 regulates learning, memory, sociability in mice
2023-09-28
Researchers have established the protein p53 as critical for regulating sociability, repetitive behavior, and hippocampus-related learning and memory in mice, illuminating the relationship between the protein-coding gene TP53 and neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders like autism spectrum disorder.
“This study shows for the first time that p53 is linked directly to autism-like behavior,” said Nien-Pei Tsai, an associate professor of molecular and integrative biology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a researcher at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology.
In living systems, ...
New report adds heat to Levelling Up debate by revealing England's most 'insecure' regions
2023-09-28
Accessing stable employment with fair pay and predictable hours is harder for workers in the North and Midlands, which can severely affect their living standards, health, and future job prospects.
A new report published by the Work Foundation at Lancaster University reveals the regions with the highest and lowest levels of ‘severely insecure’ work (employment that is involuntarily temporary or part-time, or when multiple forms of insecurity come together, such as casual or zero-hours contracts, or low or unpredictable ...
Swapping starch and refined carbs for whole grains and fruit linked to less midlife weight gain
2023-09-28
Increased consumption of carbohydrate from refined grains, starchy vegetables, and sugary drinks is associated with greater weight gain throughout midlife, while increased fibre and carbohydrate from whole grains, fruit, and non-starchy vegetables is linked to less weight gain, finds a large US study published by The BMJ today.
Most of these associations were stronger for people with excessive body weight, highlighting the potential importance of carbohydrate quality and source for long term weight management, say the researchers.
The role of carbohydrates in weight gain and obesity remains controversial, and few studies have evaluated ...
The BMJ reveals ‘silent scandal’ of missing lung tests across England
2023-09-28
Patients in some of the most deprived areas of England, where respiratory conditions including chronic lung disease (COPD) and asthma are most prevalent, have limited or no access to vital diagnostic tests to confirm their diagnosis, reveals a survey by The BMJ today.
Despite NHS England’s promise of access via Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs), journalist Sally Howard speaks to GPs in some of the worst affected areas who say having no means of referring patients for lung function tests is “troubling” and “a silent scandal.”
And last month, a report by the charity Asthma + Lung UK ...
Students made Oxford the murder capital of late medieval England, research suggests
2023-09-28
A project mapping medieval England’s known murder cases has now added Oxford and York to its street plan of London’s 14th century slayings, and found that Oxford’s student population was by far the most lethally violent of all social or professional groups in any of the three cities.
The team behind the Medieval Murder Maps – a digital resource that plots crime scenes based on translated investigations from 700-year-old coroners’ inquests – estimate the per capita homicide ...
Risk of premature birth from smoking while pregnant more than double previous estimates
2023-09-28
Cambridge researchers have found that women who smoke during pregnancy are 2.6 times more likely to give birth prematurely compared to non-smokers – more than double the previous estimate.
The study, published today in the International Journal of Epidemiology, also found that smoking meant that the baby was four times more likely to be small for its gestational age, putting it at risk of potentially serious complications including breathing difficulties and infections.
But the team found no evidence that caffeine intake was linked to adverse outcomes.
Women are currently recommended to stop smoking and limit their caffeine intake during pregnancy because of the risk of complications ...
Women seeking credibility in health care feel ‘on trial,’ struggle with constraints of double binds
2023-09-28
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Having a chronic illness is a great deal of work, communication researchers have long known. But having an illness that is stigmatized, not well understood or not perceived as a priority by clinicians is uniquely burdensome for many women, who find themselves struggling to establish both the legitimacy of their medical problems and their credibility with clinicians, family members and friends, a recent study suggests.
Sasha, a 25-year-old woman interviewed for the project, told the researchers she has a binder 3 inches thick containing all her medical records that she lugs to every doctor’s appointment to provide documentation ...