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Why cannabis is as bad for your heart as cigarettes
There’s no question that smoking is bad for your heart. It constricts your blood vessels and impedes blood flow, resulting in high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke.
Those are concerns that cannabis smokers used to feel safe from. For decades, marijuana smoke was thought to be harmless, but research over the years has proven otherwise.
Marijuana smoke contains many of the same chemicals as tobacco smoke, as well as the same fine particles that contribute to cardiovascular disease.
This similarity has motivated researchers to question the supposed “safety” of smoking marijuana and to dig deeper for more facts…
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Marijuana wreaks havoc on our blood vessels
Earlier this year, a team of researchers at the University of Toulouse in France examined 24 prior studies that noted the potential dangers of smoking cannabis.
The studies were conducted between 2016 and 2023 and involved a considerable group of subjects — around 200 million people.
As they conducted a systematic review of these studies, it became clear that the risks were virtually the same as they were for cigarette smokers.
Overall, the increased risk to cannabis users was 29 percent for acute coronary syndrome (reduced blood flow to the heart leading to heart attack), 20 percent for stroke, and 100 percent for cardiovascular disease mortality.
In other words, just as many cannabis smokers as cigarette smokers were dying of heart disease.
Around the same time, a study at the University of California San Francisco determined the cause of this danger. They assessed the blood vessel function of participants by measuring their arterial flow-mediated dilation, or FMD.
FMD is a measure of how the arteries expand, or dilate, in response to increased blood flow after it has been temporarily restricted, say, by placing a blood pressure cuff on the arm.
A healthy artery will dilate more significantly, indicating that the endothelium, the inner lining of the blood vessel, is functioning well.
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Compared with non-users, FMD was significantly worse in marijuana smokers, as well as in people who use THC edibles (THC is the part of cannabis that gives a “high”).
The one difference between smokers and users of edibles was that cannabis smokers showed lower nitric oxide (NO) levels in the endothelial cells lining their blood vessels. In contrast, edible users showed no nitric oxide reduction.
Is it worth it?
NO is a signaling molecule that acts as a natural vasodilator. That means it relaxes the inner lining of blood vessels to encourage smooth, oxygen-rich blood flow.
It’s essential for maintaining healthy blood pressure and may improve glucose tolerance and lower fasting insulin and leptin levels. There’s also evidence that low levels of NO drive cognitive decline and aging.
Whether smoking cannabis or consuming edibles, the research found that either causes artery damage, making them stiffer and less flexible, similar to the effects of smoking cigarettes. The only upside for edibles is that, though they caused artery damage in other ways, they did not impact NO levels.
There are many reasons that people use cannabis, including relief from various types of pain, cancer treatment side effects and stress. Those reasons may play a role in answering the question: Is it worth the artery damage and increased risk for stroke and heart disease?
Editor’s note: There are perfectly safe and natural ways to decrease your risk of blood clots including the 25-cent vitamin, the nutrient that acts as a natural blood thinner and the powerful herb that helps clear plaque. To discover these and other secrets of long-lived hearts, click here for Hushed Up Natural Heart Cures and Common Misconceptions of Popular Heart Treatments!
Sources:
Edibles, smoking weed almost as bad for blood vessels as cigarettes — New Atlas
Association of Endothelial Dysfunction With Chronic Marijuana Smoking and THC-Edible Use — JAMA Cardiology
Cannabis Linked to 2x Risk of Heart Disease Death, Scientists Discover — Science Alert
Cardiovascular risk associated with the use of cannabis and cannabinoids: a systemic review and meta-analysis — Heart (BMJ Journals)
By Joyce Hollman
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