Marijuana Use Linked To Higher Risk Of Stroke
Editor's ChoiceMain Category: Stroke
Also Included In: Alcohol / Addiction / Illegal Drugs
Last Updated: 07 Feb 2013
Original Date: 06 Feb 2013
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opinionsMarijuana Use Linked To Higher Risk Of Stroke
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3.18 (11 votes) |
| Article opinions: | 14 posts |
The most popular illegal drug, marijuana, may double the risk of stroke among young adults, according to findings revealed at The American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference 2013.
The study, carried out in New Zealand, identified that marijuana smokers were more than twice as likely than healthy adults to have suffered an ischemic stroke and transient ischemic attack (TIA).
Lead investigator of the study, P. Alan Barber, Ph.D., M.D., said:
"This is the first case-controlled study to show a possible link to the increased risk of stroke from cannabis. Cannabis has been thought by the public to be a relatively safe, although illegal substance. This study shows this might not be the case; it may lead to stroke."
The researchers assessed urine samples of a total of 150 ischemic stroke and 10 TIA patients aged 18-55. Close to 16 percent of the participants in the study had positive drug screens - most of whom also smoked cigarettes.
8.1 percent of those who came up positive in the urine samples smoked cannabis. There was no difference in age or stroke mechanism between those who smoked marijuana and those who didn't.
Previous studies have identified that ischemic stroke and TIAs can develop within hours of smoking marijuana.
Barber added:
"These patients usually had no other vascular risk factors apart from tobacco, alcohol and other drug usage. Questioning stroke and control patients about cannabis use is likely to obtain unreliable responses."
The regional ethics committee let the researchers access urine samples from patients who had been hospitalized. The researchers did not have full consent, therefore they only knew the sex, age, and ethnicity.
Although this study is the strongest piece of evidence that associates cannabis with stroke, it should be noted that the conclusions of the study have yet to be published in a peer-reviewed journal. In addition, the connection between cannabis and stroke may be confounded because all but one of the stroke patients who were marijuana smokers also engaged in tobacco use.
However, Barber believes that it is cannabis and not the tobacco that is causing the increased risk of stroke.
"We believe it is the cannabis and not tobacco. This may prove difficult given the risks of bias and ethical strictures of studying the use of an illegal substance. However, the high prevalence of cannabis use in this cohort of younger stroke patients makes this research imperative."
The authors stress the need to drug test young people who come in with stroke. They add that people need to be more aware of the very real health risks associated with using cannabis, especially as it can have a significant impact on how the brain develops, and now stroke.
A 2005 study published in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry reported that regular cannabis use among young people could increase their risk of stroke.
Written by Joseph Nordqvist
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today
American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference 2013
MLA
24 May. 2013. <http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/255992.php>
APA
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/255992.php.
Please note: If no author information is provided, the source is cited instead.
Visitor Opinions (latest shown first)
marijuana blocks the the main protien in your body
posted by mukesh on 23 Apr 2013 at 4:43 ampeople who smoke around the clock say 18-25 joints a day they will surely get an stroke within 10-12 years of time, marijuana actaualy blocks the main protien which is AMINO ACID is lost, no matter how much you eat through the day, because of this blood becomes thicker, and homociestine levels rise up to an unbelievable peak, which is the sign of conform stroke , if not stopped immedeately.people who smoke too many joints a day they should get their homociestine levels checked up, because they are in a massive risk for having an stroke.better keep aspirin 150 mg in handy for all you marijuana trippers out there.
Some more TRUE information
posted by Anjelica on 12 Apr 2013 at 7:50 amhttp://heretohelp.bc.ca/factsheet/cannabis
This article explains cannabis and the many different uses it may have. As well as negative effects and such. None of which mention STROKE. If you can read, you'll actually note that it says cannabis has been known to help stroke patients REGENERATE NEW CELL GROWTH IN THE BRAIN.
SOOOO, while you idiots sit here and twiddle your thumbs coming up with more ways to try to tell us cannabis isn't helping us, I'll PROVE to the world that cannabis will be the one to save us all. It is the panacea of natural medicine. Hemp is the greenest thing you can do. HEMP CAN SAVE THE WORLD. And cannabis will save my grandfather just as it has saved me and countless others throughout history. Just like it will help my grandpa to regenerate new cell growth in his brain. And be the man he was before. Watch me prove wrong your article and every other uptight doctor who won't open their mind to the incredible possibilities right in front of us. Who allow people to suffer and kill themselves slowly with toxic waste that they prescribe to make more money. That is not what a doctor should do. So take your "science" and reevaluate that and re post when you come up with something you could actually call facts.
Disgusted
posted by Anjelica on 12 Apr 2013 at 7:38 amI am absolutely disgusted and horrified to read this. Being a medical marijuana patient, and participating in the use of marijuana recreationally before my medical use I can confidently say, I know of absolutely NO ONE EVER in my 7 years of cannabis use to have a stroke because of cannabis. Now, I also have a grandfather who just had a massive stroke on the left side. Meaning I have a real life view of both sides of this story. Now my grandfather is a strong and valiant man who fought for our country. He never once used drugs, except the ones big pharma pumps down his elderly throat. The only vices this man had were completely legal. Caffeine, alcohol, and cigarettes. We believe his 50 years of smoking cigarettes was what clogged the artery and gave him the stroke. Now riddle me this, why would something that is KNOWN to cause not only cancer, stroke, and other horrific problems, is completely legal. While cannabis, which has proven not only to be able to help fight cancer, but glaucoma, hepatitis, insomnia, eating disorders, pain, and the list goes on, remains demonized by the media, corrupt scientists and politicians. It saddens me to know that a supposed "medical news" site has posted this crap. Obviously the cigarettes and probably the use of alcohol, and other factors such as weight, environment and diet all play a part in what leads to having a stroke. Why don't you guys do some better, more factual research with participants who are aware and CONSENT to being studied. That just might help you get a Real answer.
Quack vs scientific research
posted by K on 13 Feb 2013 at 3:03 pmIf this is acceptable as scientific research, we have entered a new era of stupidity. It is disturbing to think this opinion piece has been selected as Editor's Choice by Medical News Today. MNT is now promoting quack studies that have never even been accepted into a peer reviewed journal. Shame!!
Why Cannabis?
posted by Adam on 7 Feb 2013 at 9:47 amWhy does he believe it is cannabis that is linked to stroke and not tobacco which has hundreds of studies and peer reviewed papers linking tobacco to strokes.
So if he believes it is linked to cannabis... why? Just believing doesn't make it so. What is the evidence taht it is cannabis and not tobacco?
No mention of tobacco only users in this report. So are we to assume that everyone in this study who smoked tobacco was also a cannabis smoker? Very hard to believe.
Article Update And Reference information
posted by MNT Editor on 7 Feb 2013 at 12:57 amThank you for your comments about this report. We have made an amendment to our article to state that the conclusions have yet to be peer reviewed and to point out the possible association with tobacco use. We have also amended the article title, as the association isn't conclusive.
I can tell you that the statement made by Dr. P. Alan Barber to the American Heart Association is here:
http://newsroom.heart.org/news/smoking-marijuana-associated-with-higher-stroke-risk-in-young-adults
If this is what passes as "science"
posted by Tim on 7 Feb 2013 at 12:49 amthese days, you might as well give up. In a sample size of 24 people who had positive drug screens (doesn't THC stay in the system for week, possibly months? So how do they even know if the drug was used recently?) 23 of which also smoked cigarettes (confounding variable, much?) you drew this conclusion? Shoddy science. Why is this even being promoted? A better study would have had no smokers and perhaps one group smoking cannabis and another using another less harmful way to ingest it.
Any person who would put their name on something like this and call it "scientific" really should have their credentials taken away...
Misleading marijuana study
posted by John Markes on 6 Feb 2013 at 5:56 pmAll but 1 person having a stroke used tobacco, which is known to cause strokes. Not able to find any other users of only marijuana having a stroke for the study. Sounds like a quack committing fraud to push his immoral ideas. Fake studies prove only that a fraud pretended to study something.
Correlation =/= causation
posted by Cam Scheible on 6 Feb 2013 at 2:50 pmI was very intrigued when I saw this article. At first I was excited to see a study that showed a negative consequence of marijuana, but was quickly disappointed when I read it.
"The researchers assessed urine samples of a total of 150 ischemic stroke and 10 TIA patients aged 18-55. Close to 16 percent of the participants in the study had positive drug screens - most of whom also smoked cigarettes."
This merely shows a correlation between stroke victims and people who use marijuana. What is not considered in this statement is the percentage of people in the population who use marijuana. If this number is higher than 16%, then it actually shows a negative correlation, not a positive one.
The article also says that almost all of the 16% of marijuana users smoked cigarettes. According to the National Stroke Association, "Smoking doubles the risk for stroke when compared to a nonsmoker. It reduces the amount of oxygen in the blood, causing the heart to work harder and allowing blood clots to form more easily. Smoking also increases the amount of build-up in the arteries, which may block the flow of blood to the brain, causing a stroke". Thus we have conflicting data.
Finally, there is no link to a scholarly source anywhere for this information. The reference included links to a web page that gives no information about marijuana anywhere on the webpage.
So to summarize, the data collected lacks enough information to prove correlation, the data is muddled by the use of cigarettes, and there are no references to scholarly sources. Please stop spreading information like this where you claim "Marijuana use doubles risk of stroke" when the person quoted said that there may be a link between the two.
National Stroke Association. (2013). Tobacco use & smoking. Retrieved 02/06, 2013, from http://www.stroke.org/site/PageServer?pagename=smoking
What about the cigarettes?
posted by Alan E. on 6 Feb 2013 at 1:23 pm"Close to 16 percent of the participants in the study had positive drug screens - most of whom also smoked cigarettes."
So how was the cigarette ruled out as the cause and not marijuana?
"The evidence is almost conclusive, except for the fact that only one of the cannabis users didn't smoke tobacco as well."
Then how can you feel so strongly and write an article like this without having the actual proof? You say that you "believe," but based on what exactly?
Proof that reefer madness lives on
posted by Danny Hoardern on 6 Feb 2013 at 12:47 pmIf you put in a search engine the terms 'tobacco' and 'stroke', you will realise that the only thing this study proves is that reefer madness lives on.
"The evidence is almost conclusive, except for the fact that only one of the cannabis users didn't smoke tobacco as well."
Way to diminish scientific credibility
This 'Story' is irrelevant - marijuana and stroke risk
posted by Matt on 6 Feb 2013 at 12:10 pm"Your Opinion Title?" Is this the format for your "writers" as well? It definitely should be when they write and you publish articles like this. There is almost ZERO data to back up the title, "Marijuana Use Doubles Risk of Stroke." Your sources are incredibly biased with their studies and give no real supporting data to back up their claims. Then, your writer pieces this garbage together to push an unsubstantiated claim. This is the first and last time I will ever visit this website. I can't believe anything you publish when this nonsense makes it onto your webpage.
More BS about cannabis
posted by Clifford Schaffer on 6 Feb 2013 at 11:27 am"This study is the strongest piece of evidence that associates cannabis with stroke. The evidence is almost conclusive, except for the fact that only one of the cannabis users didn't smoke tobacco as well. "
In other words, it isn't conclusive at all. Not that this number of people surveyed would prove much either way.
But don't let that stop the hysteria. We must pretend that cannabis policy is really about public health.
Cannabis was originally outlawed for two major reasons. The first was because "All Mexicans are crazy and marijuana is what makes them crazy." The second was the fear that heroin addiction would lead to the use of marijuana - exactly the opposite of the modern "gateway" idea. One "expert" testified in court, under oath, that marijuana would make your fangs grow six inches long and drip with blood. He also said that, when he tried it, it turned him into a bat.
The "bat" guy was the only "expert" in the US who thought marijuana should be illegal, so they appointed him US Official Expert on marijuana, where he served for 25 years.
We have had tens of millions of people smoking pot in the US for the last several decades. If there was any serious stroke risk, we wouldn't need equivocal research like this to prove it.
The only reason these things get brought up these days is because people stopped believing that marijuana will turn you into a bat. That's our really big problem with marijuana.
For anyone who is interested, Kaiser has done better research -- surveying the health histories of 65,000 patients. They found no such association. But don't let that stop the hysteria. Playing Chicken Little is fun.
SSRIs cause stroke
posted by Nate on 6 Feb 2013 at 11:05 amYou know what really causes strokes? SSRIs. Or I should say, discontinuing them.
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