from Hacker News

Marijuana use linked with increased risk of heart attack, heart failure

by takoid on 11/6/23, 6:43 PM with 43 comments

• by josefresco on 11/6/23, 8:13 PM

  "The marijuana user's hospital records were coded for cannabis use disorder which can vary from hospital to hospital"

  This (among other things) does not give me confidence in the results.

• by bionhoward on 11/7/23, 11:29 AM

  “The latest research about cannabis use indicates that smoking and inhaling cannabis increases concentrations of blood carboxyhemoglobin (carbon monoxide, a poisonous gas), tar (partly burned combustible matter) similar to the effects of inhaling a tobacco cigarette, both of which have been linked to heart muscle disease, chest pain, heart rhythm disturbances, heart attacks and other serious conditions,” said Robert L. Page II, Pharm.D., M.S.P.H., FAHA

  This implies a link to combustion, not cannabinoids, shame on AHA for sloppy science.

• by s1artibartfast on 11/6/23, 10:37 PM

  This isn't news and can be inferred from the direct and immediate impacts of Marijuana. It elevates blood pressure and heart rate, stimulates changes in blood hormones, causes vasoconstriction in some tissues and dilation in others.

  Even video screening with quack doctors for "medical cards" routinely cautioned people with pre-existing cardiovascular issues against use.

  People can debate how big these impacts are or if anyone should care, but I don't think it is reasonable to argue the null hypothesis here.

• by Vrondi on 11/6/23, 10:10 PM

  In the first study:

  "In a secondary analysis, when coronary artery disease was added to the investigation, the risk of heart failure dropped from 34% to 27%, suggesting that coronary artery disease is a pathway through which daily marijuana use may lead to heart failure."

  and

  "A limitation of the study is that it relied on data that did not specify whether the marijuana was inhaled or eaten. According to researchers, how marijuana is ingested may influence cardiovascular outcomes."

  The second study is _only_ looking at "existing cardiovascular risk factors (high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes or high cholesterol)", so people who already have these risk factors who then _also_ use cannabis.

  and

  "A limitation of the analysis is that the data is from a large database, which may have coding errors in the patients’ health records. In addition, the electronic health record code for cannabis use disorder may vary from hospital to hospital, thereby skewing the results of the analysis."

• by mydogcanpurr on 11/6/23, 8:09 PM

  Ctrl+f “exercise” - 0 results

  Ctrl+f “diet” - 0 results

  The conclusion might be true, but the methodology is junk.

• by stuaxo on 11/6/23, 8:11 PM

  Well, it's smoking so this is not suprising.

• by dubeye on 11/6/23, 9:15 PM

  I can’t say for sure due to anecdotal etc but I am as certain as I can be cannabis was a big factor in my heart disease

• by nameless912 on 11/6/23, 7:51 PM

  This seems unsurprising? I'm sure you incur similar risks from smoking or drinking alcohol or large amounts of caffeine on a dailiy basis. The thing is, at least in my small sample size of 10 or so friends who use pot with any frequency, maybe one or two of them use on a daily or near-daily basis. Just about everyone else uses occasionally or socially. This study doesn't seem to make any strong conclusions about this usage pattern, and I would imagine that it's no worse than any other frequently used substance. Again, I don't have a lot of evidence for this beyond anecdotal, but I wouldn't take this as clear evidence that recreational marijuana is doing more harm than good.

• by neongodzilla on 11/6/23, 8:09 PM

  Correlation isn't causation.

  I know, the headline only says "linked", but most people skip over that nuance.

  The type of person that would use marijuana daily may not be the type of person to exercise much as they should, or eat as well as they should, or maybe they have incredibly bad anxiety..

• by iancmceachern on 11/7/23, 6:13 AM

  Stress also increases risk of heart attack, failure

• by algobro on 11/7/23, 5:22 AM

  This is not covering up the issue of vaccine-caused myocarditis, before anyone starts on that.

• by Bluescreenbuddy on 11/6/23, 9:47 PM

  Is it because heavy weed smokers also tend to be sedentary and out of shape or because the weed itself is causing heart failure?