Recent studies have indicated that recreational cannabis use is linked to cardiovascular issues. One recent study, for example, found that daily cannabis use is linked to heart failure. Other research indicates that Canadian adults with cannabis use disorder have a roughly 60% higher risk of adverse cardiovascular disease events than those without the disorder.
However, relatively few studies have assessed the side effects of medical cannabis. This comes while an increasing number of countries are allowing physicians to prescribe cannabis to treat chronic pain. In the current study, researchers thus decided to investigate the cardiovascular effects of cannabis on patients with chronic pain.
To do so, they analyzed Danish medical records, including 5 391 patients with chronic pain who claimed a prescription of medical cannabis alongside 26 941 controls. Ultimately, they found that patients receiving medical cannabis had a 0.8% risk of being diagnosed with arrhythmia that required motoring and possible treatment within 180 days of receiving cannabis.
This risk, they noted, was more than twice that for patients with chronic pain who were not taking cannabis. Patients taking cannabis who were aged 60 and older, alongside those with preexisting diagnoses of cancer or cardiometabolic disease such as heart disease, stroke, and diabetes, experienced the largest increases in arrhythmia risk.
The researchers noted, however, that the difference in risk between the groups became smaller after the first year of treatment. They added that the study did not find a link between medical cannabis usage and the risk of acute coronary syndrome, which includes a range of conditions linked to sudden, reduced blood flow to the heart such as heart attack, unstable engine, stroke, and heart failure.
Dr. Anders Holt from Copenhagen University Hospital—Herlev and Gentofte in Denmark, lead author of the study, said in a press release:
"We need much more research in this area. Before concluding anything, results from this study should be replicated in other countries and settings. It would also be interesting to understand if there are any links between long-term cannabis use and heart failure, stroke, or acute coronary syndrome. This would be an important area to clarify since chronic pain can persist for many years."
Sources: Medical Xpress, European Heart Journal
