A group of scientists from Georgia State University has found something surprising. People who use marijuana may be three times more likely to die from high blood pressure than people who don’t use it.
This discovery adds a new warning about the health effects of marijuana, especially as more places around the world are making it legal.
The research team wanted to see if using marijuana affects heart health. They studied more than 1,200 American adults aged 20 and older who answered a health survey between 2005 and 2006. One of the survey questions asked if they had ever used marijuana.
Those who said yes were counted as marijuana users. The researchers also asked them at what age they first used marijuana. By subtracting that age from their current age, they could figure out how many years they had used marijuana.
Next, the scientists compared the marijuana use information with official death records up to the year 2011. This helped them see if people who used marijuana had a higher chance of dying, especially from high blood pressure.
Among the people in the study, 34% had never used marijuana or cigarettes. About 21% used only marijuana, and 20% used both marijuana and cigarettes. Another 16% had used both in the past, 5% were past cigarette smokers, and 4% only smoked cigarettes.
On average, marijuana users had been using it for about 11.5 years. When the researchers looked at the data, they found that marijuana users had a much higher risk of dying from high blood pressure.
In fact, their risk was 3.4 times higher than people who never used marijuana. Even more concerning, the risk got worse the longer someone had used marijuana. Each extra year of use raised the risk a little more.
This study is important because it helps us understand more about how marijuana affects the body. Marijuana can affect the nervous system and make the heart beat faster. It can also raise blood pressure and make the heart need more oxygen.
Sometimes, people go to the emergency room with chest pain or even heart attacks after using marijuana.
What’s even more surprising is that the scientists believe marijuana might be worse for heart health than cigarette smoking. That’s a big deal because many people think marijuana is safer than cigarettes.
The lead researcher, Barbara A. Yankey, and her team published the study in a science journal called the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.
Their message is clear: people should be careful with marijuana use, especially if they already have high blood pressure or other heart problems. This research shows that marijuana is not risk-free, and it may carry serious dangers for heart health.
If you care about blood pressure, please read studies about the ideal blood pressure for older people and common high blood pressure drugs may cause memory problems.
For more health information, please read studies about A common blood pressure medication that could help you live longer and 1 in 5 people with high blood pressure takes a medication that harms blood pressure.
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