Pubdate: Sun, 27 Apr 2014
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright: 2014 Los Angeles Times
Contact:  http://www.latimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/248
Author: Melissa Healy

POT USE COULD BE LINKED TO HEART ATTACK, STROKE

A Study Prompts Concern That Marijuana May Have Cardiovascular Effects.

Over a five-year period, a government-mandated tracking system in 
France showed that physicians in that country treated 1,979 patients 
for serious health problems associated with the use of marijuana, and 
nearly 2% of those encounters were with patients suffering from 
cardiovascular problems, including heart attack, cardiac arrhythmia 
and stroke, and circulation problems in the arms and legs. In roughly 
a quarter of those cardiovascular cases, the study found, the patient died.

In the United States, when young and otherwise healthy patients show 
up in emergency departments with symptoms of heart attack, stroke, 
cardiomyopathy and cardiac arrhythmia, physicians have frequently 
noted in case reports that these unusual patients are regular marijuana users.

Such reporting is hardly the basis for declaring marijuana use an 
outright cause of cardiovascular disease. But last week, 
cardiologists writing in the Journal of the American Heart Assn. 
warned that "clinical evidence ... suggests the potential for serious 
cardiovascular risks associated with marijuana use."

And with a growing movement to decriminalize marijuana use, they 
called for data-collection efforts capable of detecting and measuring 
marijuana's cardiovascular effect among American users of cannabis sativa.

Voters in Washington and Colorado last year passed initiatives 
legalizing marijuana for recreational use, and pot advocates are 
proposing similar initiatives in other states.

"There is now compelling evidence on the growing risk of 
marijuana-associated adverse cardiovascular effects, especially in 
young people," said Emilie Jouanjus, lead author of the French study, 
which was also published in the Journal of the American Heart Assn.

That evidence, Jouanjus added, should prompt cardiologists to 
consider marijuana use a potential cause of cardiovascular disease in 
patients they see.

In an editorial published Wednesday in the American Heart Assn. 
journal, Drs. Shereif Rezkalla and Robert A. Kloner asked, "Do we 
really know enough about the cardiovascular effects of marijuana to 
feel comfortable about its use in patients with known cardiovascular 
disease or patients with cardiovascular risk factors?"

Rezkalla and Kloner combed the recent medical literature for animal 
experiments, observational studies and case reports linking marijuana 
use in close temporal proximity with cardiovascular events.

They cited evidence that marijuana use probably increases clotting 
factors in the blood and that heavy marijuana use may lead to 
significant changes in the tiny vessels carrying blood to the heart 
and brain, such that even after clearance of a major blockage, blood 
flow remains impeded.

"We believe the time has come to stop and think about the best way to 
protect our communities from the potential danger of widespread 
marijuana use in the absence of safety studies," added Rezkalla, a 
cardiologist at the Marshfield Clinic in Wisconsin, and Kloner, a 
cardiologist at USC's Keck School of Medicine. "It is the 
responsibility of the medical community to determine the safety of 
the drug before it is widely legalized for recreational use."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom