XPost: soc.men, alt.california, alt.drugs.pot   
   XPost: sac.politics   
   From: daily.doper@latimes.com   
      
   New research analyzing millions of U.S. medical records suggests   
   that marijuana use raises an adult’s risk of stroke and heart   
   failure.   
      
   The study couldn’t prove cause-and-effect, but the researchers   
   said they tried to account for other heart risk factors.   
      
   “Even when we corrected for known risk factors, we still found a   
   higher rate of both stroke and heart failure in these patients,”   
   explained lead researcher Dr. Aditi Kalla, a cardiologist at   
   Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia.   
      
   “That leads us to believe that there is something else going on   
   besides just obesity or diet-related cardiovascular side   
   effects,” Kalla said in a news release from the American College   
   of Cardiology (ACC).   
      
   Her team is slated to present its findings March 18 at the ACC’s   
   annual meeting, in Washington, D.C.   
      
   In the study, Kalla’s group looked at 20 million health records   
   of patients aged 18 to 55 who were discharged from one of more   
   than a thousand hospitals across the United States in 2009 and   
   2010.   
      
   Of those patients, 1.5 percent said they’d used marijuana.   
      
   Such use was associated with a much higher risk for stroke,   
   heart failure, coronary artery disease and sudden cardiac death.   
   Pot use was also tied to common heart disease risk factors such   
   as obesity, high blood pressure, smoking and drinking, the   
   researchers said.   
      
   After adjusting for those risk factors, the researchers   
   concluded that marijuana use was independently associated with a   
   26 percent increased risk of stroke and a 10 percent increased   
   risk of heart failure.   
      
   “More research will be needed to understand the [reasons] behind   
   this effect,” Kalla said.   
      
   Not everyone agreed the findings are cause for alarm, however.   
      
   Paul Armentaro is deputy director of NORML, a marijuana advocacy   
   group. He called the increase in heart risk, “a relatively   
   nominal one,” and said the study “is inconsistent with the   
   findings of several other longitudinal studies finding that   
   those who consume cannabis, but not tobacco, suffer no greater   
   likelihood of adverse events compared to those with no history   
   of use.”   
      
   NORML agrees that certain groups -- adolescents, pregnant or   
   nursing mothers, people with a history of psychiatric illness,   
   or those with a prior history of heart disease -- may want to   
   avoid marijuana due to the potential effects on health.   
      
   But others may want to talk the issue over with their doctors.   
   “As with any medication, patients should consult thoroughly with   
   their physician before deciding whether the medical use of   
   cannabis is safe and appropriate,” Armentaro said.   
      
   Study author Kalla noted that medical or recreational marijuana   
   use is now legal in more than half of U.S. states -- so a better   
   understanding of its health effects is needed.   
      
   The good, bad and unknown about marijuana’s health effects   
   “Like all other drugs, whether they’re prescribed or not   
   prescribed, we want to know the effects and side effects of this   
   drug,” Kalla said. “It’s important for physicians to know these   
   effects so we can better educate patients, such as those who are   
   inquiring about the safety of cannabis or even asking for a   
   prescription for cannabis.”   
      
   Two heart specialists agreed.   
      
   The new study “suggests that marijuana may not be as safe as   
   proponents for its legalization claim,” said Dr. Andrew Rogove,   
   who directs stroke care at Southside Hospital in Bay Shore, N.Y.   
   He believes that “further studies need to be performed to   
   elucidate how marijuana use can increase risk for stroke and   
   heart failure and if any particular way that it is used confers   
   a higher risk.”   
      
   Dr. Shazia Alam directs inpatient stroke services at Winthrop-   
   University Hospital, in Mineola, N.Y. She believes there’s a   
   growing number of patients of all ages with a history of   
   marijuana use.   
      
   “As more of our patients will be on marijuana in the near future   
   given the legalization trend, this study reminds us how   
   important it is to ask about marijuana use early on and inform   
   them of any potential consequences,” she said.   
      
   “Moreover, we have been seeing increased strokes in the younger   
   population, therefore routinely inquiring about marijuana use   
   may become an integral part in stroke prevention,” Alam added.   
      
   Because these findings are to be presented at a medical meeting,   
   they should be considered preliminary until published in a peer-   
   reviewed journal.   
      
   http://www.cbsnews.com/news/pot-marijuana-risk-stroke-heart-   
   failure/   
      
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