New research from one of the largest health studies in the United States has found a concerning link between daily marijuana use and a higher risk of developing heart failure.
The findings come from the “All of Us” Research Program, which includes health information from hundreds of thousands of Americans.
This new study looked closely at marijuana use and heart health, offering one of the clearest pictures yet of how regular cannabis use may affect the heart.
The research team, led by Dr. Yakubu Bene-Alhasan from Medstar Health in Baltimore, followed 156,999 adults who did not have heart failure at the beginning of the study. Participants were asked about their marijuana use through a lifestyle survey and were then monitored for almost four years, with an average follow-up of 45 months.
During this period, the scientists found that people who used marijuana every day had a 34 percent higher risk of developing heart failure compared to those who did not use marijuana at all.
This increased risk remained even after the researchers considered other important factors, such as age, gender, and whether a person smoked cigarettes. In other words, the link between daily marijuana use and heart failure was strong and consistent across different groups.
This is not the first time marijuana has been connected to heart problems. Earlier studies have suggested that cannabis use may raise the risk of conditions like coronary artery disease, atrial fibrillation, and even earlier stages of heart failure.
This new study adds stronger evidence, because it includes a huge number of people from many different backgrounds and follows them over a long period of time.
One interesting part of the study is how coronary artery disease may explain some of the increased risk. Coronary artery disease happens when plaque builds up in the arteries that supply blood to the heart. This reduces blood flow, weakens the heart muscle over time, and can eventually lead to heart failure.
When the researchers adjusted their analysis to include whether people had coronary artery disease, the risk linked to marijuana use became slightly lower but still remained significant. This suggests that marijuana may increase the risk of heart failure both directly and indirectly through heart artery damage.
The study highlights the importance of understanding how marijuana affects the body, especially as its use becomes more common across the U.S. Many people assume marijuana is harmless because it is natural or because it is legal in many states.
However, this research shows that regular use may have serious long-term effects on the heart. Dr. Bene-Alhasan notes that more research is needed to explore exactly how marijuana impacts the cardiovascular system and why the risks appear to be so strong.
One limitation of the study is that it did not track how people used marijuana—whether by smoking, vaping, eating edibles, or using oils. The way marijuana is consumed can produce different effects on the body, which may influence heart risk. Still, the large sample size and long study period make the results important and trustworthy.
The participants in the study were mostly middle-aged, and the group included people from a wide range of racial and ethnic backgrounds. This diversity strengthens the study’s findings, because it shows the link between marijuana and heart failure appears across different types of people.
The definition of marijuana use included both recreational and medical use. For medical users, the study focused on those who used marijuana more often or in higher amounts than what their doctor prescribed. This helps capture the effects of daily or heavy use, which seems to be most strongly linked with health risks.
In conclusion, this study provides important new evidence that daily marijuana use may increase the risk of developing heart failure.
As cannabis use continues to grow in popularity, these results highlight the need for public awareness, more scientific research, and open conversations between patients and healthcare providers. Understanding the full health effects of marijuana will help people make informed choices about its use, especially when it comes to protecting long-term heart health.
If you care about heart health, please read studies about how eating eggs can help reduce heart disease risk, and herbal supplements could harm your heart rhythm.
For more health information, please see recent studies about how drinking milk affects risks of heart disease and cancer, and results showing strawberries could help prevent Alzheimer’s disease.
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