- Details
- Hits: 1636
This early study isn't conclusive, but its findings could have grave implications.
Sports leagues, state legislators, and universities are changing the way they treat and punish marijuana use largely because the drug is increasingly perceived as harmless. But preliminary research suggests cannabis may have a dangerous side effect on one critical organ: the heart.
The new study, which evaluated the health of 3,407 people in the United Kingdom, suggests a link between regularly using marijuana — defined as daily or weekly use within the past five years — and changes to the heart’s structure and functions. It was published Wednesday in the journal JACC Cardiovascular Imaging.
Researchers observed that the study participants who used cannabis regularly had larger left ventricles and showed early signs of impaired heart function.
Partial abstract: Conclusions: Regular cannabis use was independently associated with adverse changes in left ventricular size and subclinical dysfunction compared to rare/no cannabis, whereas previous regular cannabis use was not. Findings should be interpreted with caution and further research is required to understand the potential pathophysiology, dose-response effects of cannabis use and the long-term implications of regular use on the cardiovascular system. Health care professionals and policy makers may need to advise caution on regular recreational cannabis use until such systematic research is availabe.
- Details
- Hits: 1653
Am J Case Rep 2019; 20:1874-1878 DOI: 10.12659/AJCR.919545
CASE REPORT: We report a death of an 11-day-old white female neonate due to acute marijuana toxicity. She died of extensive necrosis and hemorrhage of the liver and adrenals due to maternal use of marijuana.
CONCLUSIONS: This case is unique in that other possible causes of death can be eliminated. With growing use of marijuana by pregnant women and increases in newborn drug screening of umbilical cord homogenate, more cases of neonatal death due to acute marijuana toxicity could be discovered.
- Details
- Hits: 2284
St. Michael's Hospital Patients with active cannabis dependence and abuse were nearly twice as likely to suffer a heart attack after surgery, according to a study led by researchers at St. Michael's Hospital of Unity Health Toronto.
- Details
- Hits: 1666
This is just the beginning, pulmonary researchers caution.
By Alexandra Pattillo on December 4, 2019
After using a marijuana vape pen for just six months, a 49-year-old retired dog trainer went to the doctor coughing and wheezing, reporting shortness of breath upon exertion. The woman had smoked off and on through her teens and twenties, but was healthy — other than her worrying throat symptoms.
Her doctors gave her a rare and surprising diagnosis: hard-metal pneumoconiosis — a lung disease known as “cobalt lung.”
Until now, this lung condition was most often seen in one particular group of people: metal workers. Typically, people who sharpen tools, polish diamonds, or make dental prosthetics are at risk of developing “cobalt lung,” not dog trainers.
So what caused the woman’s lung condition? Worryingly, it was probably her marijuana vape pen.
That’s the conclusion of a case study on the woman, published this week in the European Respiratory Journal.
Researchers analyzed the vape liquid from her “ZenPen,” finding toxic metals in the juice like nickel, aluminum, lead, and, you guessed it, cobalt. They also have a theory for how those metals might make their way from the vape into the woman’s airways in the first place — it may be to do with the way marijuana vape pens work.
“Exposure to cobalt dust is extremely rare outside of a few specific industries,” Rupal Shah, paper co-author and researcher at the University of California, San Francisco said in a statement.
“This is the first known case of a metal-induced toxicity in the lung that has followed from vaping and it has resulted in long-term, probably permanent, scarring of the patient’s lungs.”
What is cobalt lung?
- Details
- Hits: 1704
Association Between Marijuana Use and Risk of Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Conclusions and Relevance Low-strength evidence suggests that smoking marijuana is associated with developing TGCT; its association with other cancers and the consequences of higher levels of use are unclear. Long-term studies in marijuana-only smokers would improve understanding of marijuana’s association with lung, oral, and other cancers.
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2755855