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Marijuana use may increase the chances of developing an often temporary but still frightening heart condition, suggests new preliminary research presented this week at the annual American Heart Association Meeting.
Researchers analyzed records from the country's largest database on hospital stays, called the National Inpatient Sample (NIS). They looked at over 33,000 people hospitalized with stress cardiomyopathy, better known as "broken heart syndrome," from 2003 to 2011. When they focused on the 210 patients who reported using marijuana soon before they experienced its telltale symptoms, which closely resemble a heart attack, they found noticeable differences between them and the typical sufferer. Not only were these patients often younger men instead of older women, but they had fewer known risk factors for the condition, like high blood pressure or type 2 diabetes. They were also slightly more likely to go into cardiac arrest and require an implanted defibrillator to prevent later cardiac events (2.4 percent vs 0.6 percent).
These differences could indicate that marijuana alone can increase the risk of stress cardiomyopathy, the researchers concluded. After accounting for other known factors, they estimated that users were nearly twice as likely to develop it than non-users.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 16 2016, @07:24PM
Well, it wouldn't fit with the fact that the doctors diagnosed a panic attack, and did not diagnose a heart condition, no. But the fact that this post says "Score:2, Informative" says a lot.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Sourcery42 on Wednesday November 16 2016, @08:34PM
They diagnosed a panic attack because it was someone young who seemingly had no heart problems. I was given the impression they didn't do enough diagnostics to rule out an actual heart condition; they did essentially nothing but observe and check vitals. However, this person also has no history of previous or ongoing panic attacks, so that doesn't seem like an ideal fit either. It was just interesting how the condition highlighted in TFA parallels the situation so closely.
However, the harried ER doctors told her it was all in her head and subscribed some happy pills. Typical American, insurance industry dominated medicine. The patient's health is far less important than the bottom line, so get them the hell out the door with as little effort as possible.
Terribly sorry I wasn't thorough enough in my musings for you AC.
(Score: 2) by t-3 on Wednesday November 16 2016, @10:11PM
Was it related to smoking weed or just a random thing? 'Cuz I've seen weed induce panic attacks in people, the paranoia and sensory effects can be pretty strong.