Marijuana Use Linked to 3-Fold Risk of Hypertension-Related Mortality

Marijuana use is associated with a 3-fold increased risk of death from hypertension, according to the results of a recent study.

Although marijuana use has been suggested to be associated with cardiovascular events, few studies have examined its effects on cardiovascular mortality. Because recreational marijuana is often smoked, the researchers hypothesized that like cigarette smoking, marijuana would also increase cardiovascular mortality risk.
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For their study, they designed a retrospective follow-up study of participants from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Individuals who reported marijuana use were considered marijuana users, and the researchers used reported age of first marijuana use to calculate duration of use.

Using mortality data from 2011 from the National Centre for Health Statistics, the researchers estimated the effects of marijuana use and duration of use on risk of death from hypertension, heart disease, and cerebrovascular disease, controlling for cigarette use and demographic variables.

Of the 1213 participants, 34% had never used marijuana or cigarettes, 21% used only marijuana, 20% used marijuana and cigarettes, 16% used marijuana and were past smokers, 5% were past smokers, and 4% used only cigarettes.

Overall, marijuana users had a higher risk of hypertension-related mortality (hazard ratio 3.42), and the hazard ratio for each year of marijuana use was 1.04. Marijuana use was not associated with heart disease- or cerebrovascular disease-related mortality.

“Marijuana use, especially prolonged years of use, may increase the risk of hypertension mortality. This cardiovascular risk associated with marijuana use, may be greater than the cardiovascular risk already established for cigarette smoking,” the researchers concluded.

“We are not disputing the possible medicinal benefits of standardized cannabis formulations; however, recreational use of marijuana should be approached with caution. It is possible that discouraging recreational marijuana use may ultimately impact reductions in mortality from cardiovascular causes. A purposeful longitudinal study modeled with inclusion of listed relevant limitations is recommended to help evaluate this cause.”

—Michael Potts

Reference:

Yankey BA, Rothenberg R, Strasser S, et al. Effect of marijuana use on cardiovascular and cerebrovascular mortality: A study using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey linked mortality file [published online August 8, 2017]. Eur J Prev Cardiol.. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/2047487317723212.