It’s not unknown that some people smoke cannabis in order to wind down. But some stoners might be in for a rather stressful time of it, as according to a study, cannabis users have been found to be more likely to develop a deadly heart condition.
If smoking weed is a regular thing for you, you might want to be aware of the risks of a potentially fatal condition called atrial fibrillation, which could come about as a result of regular use of the drug.
The study, which was written by researchers at the University of California San Francisco and published in the European Heart Journal, found that smoking the devil’s lettuce regularly may increase the risk of the condition, which causes an irregular and often abnormally fast heart rate.
Those that live the high life were found to be 35 percent more likely to be diagnosed with the heart complication within ten years, in comparison to non-smokers.
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The NHS states that those with atrial fibrillation can have a heart rate above 100 beats per minute, considerably higher than the resting heart rate of 60 to 100.
The condition can cause other symptoms such as dizziness, shortness of breath and fatigue, as well as heart palpitations or ‘flutters’ where it may be beating irregularly ‘often for a few seconds, or in some cases, a few minutes.’
“Sometimes atrial fibrillation does not cause any symptoms and a person who has it is completely unaware that their heart rate is irregular,” they add.
However, it seems that the scientists behind the study aren’t convinced that the condition is caused by the drug itself and instead believe that the heart condition may be linked to the way it’s smoked.
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They wrote: “Despite exhibiting a weaker association with incident AF (atrial fibrillation) than the other substances, cannabis use still exhibited an association of similar or greater magnitude to risk factors like dyslipidemia, diabetes mellitus, and chronic kidney disease.
“Furthermore, those with cannabis use exhibited similar relative risk of incident AF as those with traditional tobacco use.”
The study included data from 23 million patients, including users of other drugs like cocaine, crystal meth and opiates.
People who take cocaine regularly were 61 percent more to develop the condition than people who don't, while those who take opiates, including heroin or prescribed drugs, were at a 74 percent chance of developing a severe case of the condition.
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Well, it might be back to the drawing board for some stoners.
If you want friendly, confidential advice about drugs, you can talk to FRANK. You can call 0300 123 6600, text 82111 or contact through their website 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, or livechat from 2pm-6pm any day of the week.
Gabriella Ferlita