New Study Indicates Increased Risk of Stroke in Marijuana Smokers

Globally, there are over 80 million people currently living with the effects of stroke. Due to the alarming increase in this health condition, many studies have been and are still being carried out to control the effects of this disease.

During the World Stroke Congress in Montreal, a new study was unveiled, which indicated that smoking marijuana poses an increased risk of developing cerebrovascular effects of cannabinoids, mainly stroke. The health statistics showed a rise in stroke incidence among marijuana users from 2010-14, while overall stroke prevalence remained stable.

For this particular study, the team evaluated the use of the drug Rivaroxaban versus Acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) to prevent strokes in patients with an enlarged left atrium of the heart.

The study examined a total of 2.3 million hospitalizations among people who used marijuana recreationally, among which 32,231 had a stroke, including 19,452 with an acute ischemic stroke, meaning sudden loss of blood circulation to an area of the brain.

Co-author, Associate Professor David Gladstone from the varsity, stated that, “We are seeing a very intriguing signal here, and it has biological plausibility, but it is going to require independent validation before making any changes to practice recommendations.”

The results of the study revealed that the rate of stroke of all types among marijuana users increased from 1.3 to 1.5%. In addition, the rate of ischemic stroke increased from 0.7 to 0.9%. During the five-year period, the prevalence of stroke among all patients was noticed to be stable.

The researchers concluded that these growing trends of stroke among marijuana users, authorizes researchers to further perform prospective studies to evaluate the marijuana-stroke association amidst legalization of recreational use.