Even the most reliable machines sometimes jam. It can also happen to the heart’s rhythm, regulated by electrical signals that run along the organ without us even noticing. Thus appears the arrhythmia. However, there are conditions in which the risk increases and therefore greater attention is needed to heart health. An example? For those who take cannabis for therapeutic use, in the fight against chronic pain of various origins, monitoring must be more careful.
To signal this need on the part of doctors and patients, noting how the therapeutic use of compounds present in cannabis would be associated with a high risk of arrhythmias, is a research presented at the Congress of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) in Barcelona.
The study was coordinated by Nina Nouhravesh of the Gentofte University Hospital in Denmark. In the Nordic country, medical cannabis was approved in January 2018 on an experimental basis, meaning doctors can prescribe it for chronic pain if all other measures, including opioids, have proved insufficient. But there are still no comprehensive data on long-term safety, particularly on the cardiovascular front, considering that not-so-calming information on the rhythm disturbance front comes from recreational cannabis users.
Research on large numbers
In Denmark different active ingredients can be prescribed from cannabis, from dronabinol, which contains a lot of Thc or Tetrahydrocannabinol, to cannabinoids which are richer in cannabidiol or cannabidiol directly. The medicine can be administered by inhalation or by mouth. Studying over 1.6 million patients from 2018 to 2021, the researchers identified 4,931 subjects who were prescribed cannabis at least once (in almost half of the cases as cannabinoids). The patients, with an average age of around 60, were then observed for a year and a half to assess the risk of developing cardiovascular problems. About 17.8% had cancer, 17.1% arthritis, 14.9% back pain, 9.8% neurological disease, 4.4% headache, 3.0% complicated fractures and 33.1% other diagnoses. The absolute risk of new onset arrhythmia was 0.86% in medical cannabis users compared to 0.49% in non-users, although risks of new onset acute coronary syndrome and heart failure were similar.
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In short, the data is collected. But we are at the beginning of a path that should not be underestimated. And we certainly need more information. “Our study found that medical cannabis users had a 74% higher risk heart rhythm disturbances compared to non-consumers; however, the absolute difference in risk was modest – reports Nouhravesh. It should be noted that a greater percentage of those in the cannabis group were taking other pain relievers, namely drugs non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), opioids and antiepilepticsi, and we cannot exclude that this could explain the increased likelihood of arrhythmias “.
Heart health should be monitored
The same researcher recalls how it is necessary to investigate and report serious side effects, and how both doctors and patients should also consider these aspects when starting treatment. On the other hand, moving on the front of the discretionary and non-therapeutic use of cannabis, on the arrhythmias front a study on hospitalized cannabis users showed that the 2.7% of them developed arrhythmiamost often atrial fibrillation.
And a research from Stanford University, which appeared on Cell and conducted on about half a million adults some time ago, showed how smoking cannabis can cause an increase in compounds that promote rapid inflammation of the arteries, with a 16% higher risk of having a heart attack before the age of 50. in those who consume cannabis compared to those who do not use it. There is also experimental information to consider: in mice the action of tetrahydrocannabinol or Thc could favor the inflammation of the cells of the inner wall of the arteries and thus promote atherosclerosis.
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