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Healthy people who regularly smoke marijuana or consumed dishes with THC showed signs of early cardiovascular disease, similar to tobacco smokers, found a new little study.
“To the best of my knowledge, this is the first study to look at the effect of THC on the vascular function in humans,” said senior study author of Matthew Springer, a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.
“We are watching a window in the future, showing early changes that can explain why smoking marijuana is associated with shorter heart disease,” Springer said. “It seems the act of smoking and THC itself contributes to these changes in different ways.”
Tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, is the marijuana component that provides high. Previous mice studies have found damage to blood vessels that supply oxygen to vital organs after exposure to marijuana smoke, Springer said. However, whether marijuana smoke will affect the human vascular system is unknown.
“We have found that the vascular function was reduced by 42% for marijuana smokers and by 56% in THC users compared to non-users,” the leader of the leading researcher, Dr. Leila Mohammadi, said in the teaching researcher at the University of California, San Francisco.
The survey shows only an association, Springer said. “We can only say that cannabis users have a poor vascular function, not that the use of cannabis causes a poor vascular function,” he said by email.
The findings of Thc-powered Jacques were surprising, said Dr. Andrew Freeman, director of cardiovascular prevention and wellness in National Jewish Health in Denver.
“Is it possible for other forms of marijuana – teas, tinctures, edible – maybe not as benign as we ever thought?” said Freeman, who does not participate in the study. “We need more studies to make a better conclusion about this finding.”
Risk of damaged blood vessels
A single layer of endothelial cells outlines all the blood vessels of the body. When functioning properly, these specialized cells release chemicals such as nitric oxide, which control the relaxation and contraction of the channel, thus regulating blood flow. Endotel healthy cells also play a role in the growth of local cells and help prevent blood clotting.
When endothelial cells are inflamed, plaque buildup can increase in the arteries over time, which potentially causes heart attacks, strokes and heart failure. Damage to small blood vessels can also cause kidney and lung disease, coma, delirium and dementia.
However, the study does not measure plaque, so the findings do not mean that the blood vessels are currently blocked, Springer said.
“The vessels simply do not grow with a diameter in real time when more blood should pass, which shows an unhealthy vascular wall, which heralds later cardiovascular disease,” he said.
Previous studies have found strong links between the use of marijuana and later cardiovascular disease. A study in February 2024 found that smoking, marijuana falling or eating led to a significantly higher risk of heart attack and stroke, even if a person has no existing heart conditions and has not smoked or vip tobacco.
The risk of stroke increased by 42%, and the risk of heart attack increased by 25%if cannabis is used daily, and the risk is climbing as the number of days of marijuana use is found, the study found.
The use of marijuana every day can raise the risk of a person from coronary arterial disease by one -third compared to those who never participate, a study is found in February 2023.
The American Cardiac Association advises people to refrain from smoking or evaporation of some substance, including cannabis products due to the potential harm of the heart, lungs and blood vessels. The leadership, published in 2020, according to studies that detect heart rhythm abnormalities, such as tachycardia and atrial fibrillation, can occur within an hour after smoking a weed containing THC.
A little pilot study
The 55 participants in the survey were divided into three groups: people who smoked (did not vapor) marijuana three or more times a week for at least one year, people who consumed eating at least three times a week for at least one year and foliage. None of the 18 to 50 years in the study was smokers or tobacco vapors and they all had little exposure to second -hand tobacco smoke.
The researchers performed an ultrasound on the main artery in the upper right hand in each person, then applied an extremely tight blood pressure cuff for five minutes. Once the cuff is removed, the artery is rescued to see how well it has expanded or expanded to deal with the increased flow of blood, a process that needs to release nitric oxide to make it happen.
Damage to endothelial cells that regulate dilation is related to the dose, according to the study. The study participants who used more marijuana had a greater risk of damage to blood vessels that carry oxygen to the body’s organs.
“Higher use of cannabis -whether it is smoked or absorbed -is associated with a higher vascular function, emphasizing cardiovascular risks that increase with higher potency and frequency of use,” Mohammadi said.
Additional neck and thigh tests checked the stiffness of each person’s blood pressure walls. Compared to people who have never used marijuana, it seems that cannabis users did not have additional stiffness on the walls of blood vessels, the study found.
The roles of smoking and THC
Separate analysis Add blood serum from cannabis smokers and consumption users for the purchase of commercial crops from endothelial cells in the laboratory. The blood from people who have used foods full of THC does not seem to harm cells – they continue to produce adequate nitric oxide. However, endothelial cells incubated in serum by marijuana smokers release 27% less nitric oxide than those treated with blood by non -smokers.
These evidence is similar to what is in tobacco, said Springer, pointing a preliminary study by his team showing endothelial cells incubated in a serum by smokers of tobacco, released by 39% less nitric oxide by non -smokers.
“Observing that marijuana smokers and THC users have a bad vascular function can make people conclude that THC is responsible for all this and smoke is irrelevant,” Springer said.
This would be an incorrect conclusion, according to Springer, as there are reasons to believe that marijuana smoke itself is as responsible as THC for damage to blood vessels.
“Rats exposed to marijuana smoke, without any cannabinoids, also had vascular and cardiac damage, plus tobacco smoke it is known to cause heart disease and it has no THC,” Springer said.
“So you don’t make any services by moving from tobacco smoking to marijuana. Smoking marijuana just gives you a double blow – smoke and THC,” he said.
As for food, teas, tinctures and the like?
“In humans, there is a Goldilocks zone for everything – too much is not doing properly, too little is not doing properly, but it just does well,” Freeman said. “We need additional investigations to see if there is a Goldilocks Zone.”
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