Regular cannabis may increase risk of stroke in young users

Main Category: Stroke
Article Date: 22 Feb 2005 - 14:00 PDT

Current ratings for:
'Regular cannabis may increase risk of stroke in young users'

Patient / Public:5 stars

5 (1 votes)

Healthcare Prof:not yet rated

Article opinions: 2 posts

Regular users of cannabis could be putting themselves at risk of stroke, while they are still young, indicates a case report, published in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.

Illicit drug use is known to be associated with an increased risk of stroke in young users, with heroin, cocaine, and speed (amphetamines) the most frequently implicated.

The patient was a 36 year old primary school teacher, who had been a sporadic user of cannabis in the past. He had no known risk factors for stroke, did not use other drugs, and only drank occasionally.

The first incident occurred after he had smoked a considerable amount of cannabis combined with three or four drinks at a party. He lost his ability to speak, which was followed, a few hours later, by convulsions.

A brain scan revealed one patch of bleeding and another blood clot, but no evidence of narrowed/furred up arteries. He was treated, and recovered.

A year later, after another bout of cannabis smoking, he again lost his ability to talk and experienced weakness on one side of his body (hemiparesis). A brain scan revealed a further small patch of bleeding as well as another blood clot, but in different areas from before.

The man refrained from using cannabis for 18 months, but then smoked a reasonable amount in one go, which he combined with three or four drinks. This was followed by an inability to recognise sounds, a condition known as auditory agnosia.

A brain scan revealed a patch of bleeding as well as the damage left by the previous bleeds.

The behavioural abnormalities and increased risk of schizophrenia, associated with frequent cannabis use, are well known, say the authors. But less well known, and no less important, are the cardiovascular effects.

These include rapid heart beat (tachycardia), excessively high or low blood pressure, and the decreased oxygen carrying capability of red blood cells. Cannabis also quadruples the risk of a heart attack within an hour of consumption.

They are at pains to point out that despite the widespread use of cannabis, there have only been 15 other cases of stroke, which have been linked to cannabis consumption.

But they conclude: "Cannabis is not as safe a drug as many believe…Future studies will be needed to clarify the role of cannabis as a stroke risk factor, as it could be underestimated."

An accompanying editorial, which discusses the possible mechanisms for the drug's impact on the cardiovascular system, suggests that recreational users of cannabis should be told more about the potential risks to their health.

"The therapeutic potential of cannabis and its derivatives should be rigorously evaluated and the benefit to risk ratio taken into account before authorising their medical use," writes Dr Dominique Deplanque, of the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Lille.

Contact: Emma Dickinson
edickinson@bmj.com
BMJ Specialty Journals

Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release.
Visit our stroke section for the latest news on this subject.
There are no references listed for this article.
Please use one of the following formats to cite this article in your essay, paper or report:

MLA
Emma Dickinson. "Regular cannabis may increase risk of stroke in young users." Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl., 22 Feb. 2005. Web.
26 May. 2012. <http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/20241.php>

APA
Emma Dickinson. (2005, February 22). "Regular cannabis may increase risk of stroke in young users." Medical News Today. Retrieved from
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/20241.php.

Please note: If no author information is provided, the source is cited instead.



Visitor Opinions (latest shown first)

Fallacious thinking

posted by Bob Marsden on 25 Feb 2005 at 7:15 am

Regular cannabis may increase risk of stroke in young users
Quite a generalisation from one case. It wasn't his regular cannabis use that did the damage but his irregular overdosing accompanied by alcohol. How was this single case chosen to be indicative of a purported risk factor in the whole population? Because it was exceptional, possibly unique. So the interpretations of this case by its reporters, editors and assorted pundits seems to be just plain stupid.
What would have been interesting is if the doctors had examined his metabolic type to find out if he was significantly different from the general population.

| post followup | alert a moderator |


Cannabis or beer?

posted by Brian on 23 Feb 2005 at 4:03 pm

Pretty quick to say it was the cannabis that he used on a regular basis and not the beer that he drank with it. The article says that he had problems when he used Cannabis and Drank 3-4 beers. But he has been a smoker of cannabis for quite some time. So wouldnt it be more coorect to say that Cannabis used with Alcohol increases risk of stroke?

| post followup | alert a moderator |


Add Your Opinion On This Article

'Regular cannabis may increase risk of stroke in young users'

Please note that we publish your name, but we do not publish your email address. It is only used to let you know when your message is published. We do not use it for any other purpose. Please see our privacy policy for more information.

If you write about specific medications or operations, please do not name health care professionals by name.

All opinions are moderated before being included (to stop spam)

Your Name:*
E-mail Address:*
Your Opinion Title:*
Opinion:*
This is to help prevent SPAM submissions. Please enter the words exactly as they appear, including capital letters and punctuation.*

* Fields marked with a * need to be filled in before you hit the submit button.

Contact Our News Editors

For any corrections of factual information, or to contact the editors please use our feedback form.

Please send any medical news or health news press releases to:

Note: Any medical information published on this website is not intended as a substitute for informed medical advice and you should not take any action before consulting with a health care professional. For more information, please read our terms and conditions.


Stroke

What Is a Stroke?

A stroke is a condition where a blood clot or ruptured artery or blood vessel interrupts blood flow to an area of the brain. Read more...

Most Popular Articles



Follow Our Stroke News On Twitter

Follow Us On Twitter
Get the latest news for this category delivered straight to your Twitter account. Simply visit our Stroke Twitter account and select the 'follow' option.



View list of all 'What Is...' articles »