Now how could it be that marijuana users are more likely to survive a heart attack?
Back in the 1980s, they said the same thing about Type A personalities. Though they were also far more likely to HAVE heart attacks than Type B personalities.
So is it something akin to that?
It’s hard to say. But how cannabis impacts cardiovascular health is a rapidly growing area of research.
And recent studies point to one common result:
Marijuana Users Are More Likely to Survive a Heart Attack
Which is big deal.
Just two years ago, researchers from the Atlanta Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Texas State University and Nassau University Medical Center in New York led a study on patients that had been hospitalized with a heart attack.
Their study found that marijuana use did not increase the chance of mortality among those patients.
A new study released just this past month garnered the same results. And this is good news, given the stats on cardiovascular disease in the United States alone.
Heart Disease Accounts for about One in Every Three Deaths
That’s close to 30% of deaths.
Furthermore, around 2,200 Americans dies of cardiovascular disease every day. This is more than the number of those who die of cancer and Chronic Lower Respiratory Disease combined. In even scarier terms, that amounts to one death every 40 seconds.
With 92.1 million American adults currently living with some form of cardiovascular disease or the after-effects of a stroke, researchers are keen on finding treatments that can prevent death from these conditions.
Never mind the massive costs that result from these conditions as well. Experts are ballparking that number around $316 billion.
What the Current Study Found
The newest study out of the University of Colorado focused on patients who suffered an Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI). That’s “doctorese” for heart-related emergency.
It involved the analysis of millions of patients’ medical records – as well as a closer study of 3,854 actual patients among that group who admitted to marijuana use.
Guess what they found? (You already know.)
Those who used marijuana had a decreased risk of having to have a balloon inserted into a blocked artery. BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, they were far less likely to go into shock or die from the cardiovascular event.
“Perhaps the most striking finding of our study is that marijuana use prior to AMI was associated with decreased in-hospital mortality post AMI,” wrote the researchers of the study.
And though they admit that further research is required, they “would strongly suggest that marijuana use is associated with a significant decrease in in-hospital mortality” for those admitted with a heart attack.
Marijuana – the Wonder Drug?
Studies on cannabis and its effect on cardiovascular health are still in their infancy. Relatively speaking.
But as of now, it does appear that marijuana users are more likely to survive a heart attack. This is yet another in a growing list of potential medical uses for cannabis.
And also another reason to end federal prohibition of marijuana and let further research flourish.
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