Marijuana Users Have Triple the Odds for Leg Artery Disease (Study)

MONDAY, May 15, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Smoking cigarettes has agelong been linked to peripheral artery illness (PAD), a information wherever nan buildup of plaque narrows arteries and limits humor travel to nan legs aliases arms.
 

Now, a caller study suggests that marijuana whitethorn person a akin impact, aft uncovering that users had 3 times nan consequence of processing PAD.

Although nan study is preliminary and doesn’t find whether nan effect is each from smoking weed aliases different celebrated methods of utilizing nan drug, specified arsenic eating marijuana-infused gummies, it whitethorn beryllium a reddish emblem for users and could beryllium thing their doctors should inquire astir to gauge consequence factors for their patients.

“Marijuana users should activity early information by a wellness attraction master if they person symptoms specified arsenic limb symptom while walking, slower/no hairsbreadth maturation and coldness successful nan limb arsenic location seems to beryllium an accrued consequence for processing PAD successful this diligent population,” said study authors Dr. Hirva Vyas from Hackensack University Medical Center successful New Jersey and Dr. Harsh Jain, a resident pinch nan Montefiore Health System successful New York City.

To study this, Vyas and Jain utilized information from U.S. National Inpatient Samples from 2016 to 2019.

More than 620,000 of nan 30 cardinal patients were marijuana users. They had an mean property of conscionable complete 37 years. Among them, much than 2,400 besides had PAD. 
 

While nan marijuana users had a overmuch greater consequence of processing PAD, location wasn't a statistically important accrued consequence for decease aliases surgical intervention.

It’s imaginable marijuana usage changes really humor clots aliases affects peripheral vascular tone, nan study authors suggested.

The study recovered that marijuana users were astatine an accrued consequence moreover aft controlling for immoderate variables, including smoking cigarettes, Vyas and Jain said.

Although nan database didn’t person accusation connected nan method of consumption, “it is paramount to statement that nan progressive constituent THC is metabolized successful different ways erstwhile smoked versus ingested, and whitethorn person differing consequence factors associated pinch each,” Vyas and Jain said.

About 6.5 cardinal Americans person PAD, and astir 50 cardinal Americans now study utilizing marijuana, according to nan U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Dr. Robert Page, a professor successful nan departments of objective drugstore and beingness medicine astatine nan University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus successful Denver, cautioned that nan study shows an relation and not a cause-and-effect link.

Page, who was chair of nan American Heart Association’s 2020 connection connected aesculapian marijuana, recreational cannabis and cardiovascular health, was not progressive successful this study.

While nan findings don’t show nan complete picture, including transportation method and different wellness consequence factors, nan study does constituent to immoderate peculiar information signals, Page said.

Cannabis has, successful past research, been shown to beryllium linked to a number of different cardiovascular wellness issues successful dense smokers of nan drug, Page said.

It’s known that THC (the constituent of marijuana that makes you consciousness "high") affects humor platelets successful a test-tube setting, Page noted.

“What it does propose is that, to put it successful layman's terms, is that THC tin make platelets angry and erstwhile they get angry, they aggregate. And erstwhile they aggregate, that tin lead to what we telephone thrombosis [a humor clot],” he explained.

Smoking cigarettes has a batch of very antagonistic impacts connected humor vessels because of nan antagonistic byproducts it releases, specified arsenic tar, not conscionable because of nicotine, Page said. 
 

“In individuals who are smoking cannabis, it creates nan aforesaid types of carcinogens and tar,” Page said.

These byproducts tin harm nan insubstantial that's surrounding nan humor vessels aliases wrong nan vessels. 
 

Both THC and cannabidiol (CBD) tin besides negatively impact nan reside of nan vasculature, Page said. THC tin stimulate receptors successful nan encephalon that trigger a narrowing of humor vessels, he said.

“When you return that into account, these information are not surprising,” Page said. “I deliberation it adds to nan literature, peculiarly successful younger adults, that we're seeing an accrued consequence for ischemic changeable and we're besides seeing an summation successful early first-time changeable successful younger adults, betwixt nan ages of 18 to 40, wherever you wouldn't deliberation of that."

And then, he added, "it's been associated pinch early myocardial infarction [heart attack] successful young adults to nan constituent that we judge possibly that smoking cannabis could beryllium conscionable arsenic bad arsenic smoking cigarettes successful position of starring to a bosom attack.” 
 

Risks whitethorn beryllium different pinch existent THC products than they were pinch marijuana successful nan past, pinch nan coming products containing moreover higher levels of THC, Page said.

“The takeaway for this for providers, peculiarly successful younger adults, is that these information propose a reddish flag,” Page said. “And what that intends is that providers request to beryllium asking astatine each diligent brushwood for their patients to beryllium very transparent astir cannabinoid use, nary judgement involved, but we request to beryllium utilizing this arsenic a consequence facet for some coronary and peripheral artery disease.”

The investigation will beryllium presented May 18 astatine nan Society for Cardiovascular Angiography & Interventions yearly meeting, successful Phoenix, Ariz. Findings presented astatine aesculapian meetings should beryllium considered preliminary until published successful a peer-reviewed journal.

More information

The U.S. National Institutes of Health has much connected peripheral artery disease.

SOURCES: Hirva Vyas, DO, Hackensack University Medical Center, New Jersey; Harsh Jain, DO, resident, Montefiore Health System, New York City; Robert Page, PharmD, professor, departments of objective drugstore and beingness medicine, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Denver; Society for Cardiovascular Angiography & Interventions yearly meeting, Phoenix, Ariz., May 18, 2023