Perhaps an arbitrary question, but wouldn’t it have been prudent to evaluate the untoward health effects of cannabis before jumping off liberal groundswell of cannabis approval. Today I am going to talk about another as yet previously unknown side effect from cannabis.
Recreational use of cannabis is associated with a 1.5-fold increased risk for atrial arrhythmias, according to study findings presented at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2023, held in Philadelphia, PA, from November 11 to 13.
The analysis included 17 cohort studies (4 prospective observational) with 81,269,314 participants from North America, Europe, and Oceania. The patients had a mean age of 46 years (range, 41-72), and 45% were women.
Recreational cannabis use was associated with a significantly increased risk for atrial arrhythmias (OR, 1.55; 95% CI, 1.13-2.13), with a high degree of heterogeneity observed (I2 =99%). Meta-regression analysis showed that mean age was not a contributing factor (P =.58).
While atrial arrhythmias are often not life threatening, they can significantly increase the risk of stroke. What is even more amazing about this atrial arrhythmia-cannabis causal relationship is that age is not a contributing factor! Perhaps this should have been looked into before the rush to legalize its use. Just saying!
11/16/23