As the use of marijuana continues to become more common, research and studies on the long-term effects of the substance continue to show new risks. Among those risks is an increased potential for developing coronary artery disease, or CAD.
The new study is set to be presented at the annual American College of Cardiology meeting. Its results show that a person who uses marijuana every day has their risk of CAD increase by a third compared to those who do not use the substance.
The lead author of the study Dr. Ishan Paranjpe, a resident physician at Stanford University, shared in an email to CNN that the evidence surrounding sustained marijuana use continues to show negative outcomes, which were previously unseen.
“A growing body of evidence suggests that cannabis is not entirely without harm and may actually cause cardiovascular disease,” Paranjpe said.
The doctor continued, suggesting that people who decide to use the substance should carefully weigh against “the potential for serious heart disease.”
The study compiled data from people who participated in the National Institutes of Health’s All of Us Research Program, which has gathered health information from over 1 million people in the US over a period of time for research like this.
The NIH sent surveys to those who participated in the program, and in them were questions about marijuana usage. Of those surveyed, 4,736 reported using marijuana daily, 2,720 weekly, 2,075 monthly, 8,749 used it once or twice in three months, and 39,678 hadn’t used it at all.
The researchers then used the health records from the five categories of participants a few years after they joined the program. The data showed that those using cannabis daily were 34% more likely to be diagnosed with CAD than those who didn’t use the drug.
The study also noted that those who reported using the drug once a month or less had no significant increase in risk.
To ensure their findings were not impacted by other factors, researchers factored out other potential causes of CAD. These factors included age, sex, and major cardiovascular risk factors like a person having high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, obesity, smoking and alcohol use, and high cholesterol.
After factoring out the risks, researchers said that findings remained the same.
When it comes to potential reasons why daily marijuana use appears to be linked to a person’s heart and blood vessels being damaged, some think it could be due to how the substance causes the body to react.
The CDC shares that the drug increases a user’s heart rate and blood pressure immediately after each use. This could, in turn, cause stress on the organ. It is also a reason why the American Heart Association warned in 2020 that smoking or vaping any substance should be avoided.
“Marijuana smoke also delivers many of the same substances researchers have found in tobacco smoke — these substances are harmful to the lungs and cardiovascular system,” the CDC says.
When it comes to CAD and how to be aware of it, the CDC says that signs include having angina, chest pain, feeling weak, dizzy, sick to your stomach, or experiencing shortness of breath.
The CDC also says that CAD is the most common type of heart disease and is caused by plaque buildup in the walls of the arteries that supply blood to the heart. For the unfortunate few, the CDC noted that the “first sign of CAD is a heart attack.”
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