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. 2021 Sep 7;193(35):E1377-E1384.
doi: 10.1503/cmaj.202392.

Recent cannabis use and myocardial infarction in young adults: a cross-sectional study

Karim S Ladha  1 , Nikhil Mistry  1 , Duminda N Wijeysundera  1 , Hance Clarke  1 , Subodh Verma  1 , Gregory M T Hare  1 , C David Mazer  2
Affiliations

Recent cannabis use and myocardial infarction in young adults: a cross-sectional study

Karim S Ladha et al. CMAJ. .

Abstract

Background: Cannabis use is increasing among young adults, but its effects on cardiovascular health are poorly understood. We aimed to assess the association between recent cannabis use and history of myocardial infarction (MI) in young adults (aged 18-44 yr).

Methods: We performed a cross-sectional study using pooled data from the 2017 and 2018 cohorts of the American Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey of US adults. We analyzed the association between any recent cannabis use and history of MI using a weighted logistic regression model that adjusted for demographic factors, socioeconomic factors, health-related behaviours, concomitant substance use and other comorbidities. We also assessed this association after stratifying by frequency of use and by primary method of consumption.

Results: Among 33 173 young adults (18.5 million weighted), 4610 respondents (3.2 million weighted) reported recent cannabis use (17.5%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 16.8%-18.2%). A history of MI was more frequent among recent cannabis users (n = 61 of 4610, 1.3%) relative to nonusers (n = 240 of 28 563 [0.8%], adjusted odds ratio [OR] 2.07, 95% CI 1.12-3.82). A history of MI was associated with cannabis use of more than 4 times per month (adjusted OR 2.31, 95% CI 1.18-4.50), and with smoking as a primary method of consumption (adjusted OR 2.01, 95% CI 1.02-3.98).

Interpretation: Our study provides evidence supporting an association between recent cannabis use and history of MI in young adults. Increasing cannabis use in an at-risk population could have negative implications for cardiovascular health.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: Karim Ladha and Hance Clarke are principal investigators of an observational medical cannabis study funded by Shoppers Drug Mart. Subodh Verma is President of the Canadian Medical and Surgical Knowledge Translation Research Group, a federally incorporated not-for-profit physician organization, and reports research grants and/or speaking honoraria from Boehringer Ingelheim, Eli Lilly, AstraZeneca, Janssen, Merck, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Amgen, Sanofi, Servier, Sun Pharmaceuticals, HLS Therapeutics, Amarin, Valeant, Bayer, PhaseBio and Pfizer. C. David Mazer reports consulting fees from Amgen, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim and Octapharma. No other competing interests were declared.

Figures

Figure 1:
Figure 1:
Flowchart showing creation of the study cohort. Note: BRFSS = Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

References

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