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  Study Finds Using Marijuana Ups Heart Attack Risk
Posted by FoM on June 11, 2001 at 14:19:51 PT
By Reuters 
Source: Reuters 

cannabis The risk of a heart attack jumps nearly five-fold during the first hour after smoking marijuana, posing a particular threat to middle-aged users of the drug, according to a study released on Monday.

Researchers led by Dr. Murray Mittleman, director of cardiovascular epidemiology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, interviewed 3,882 people who had suffered a heart attack as part of a study of factors linked to the ailment.

The likelihood of suffering a heart attack was 4.8 times greater in the first hour after smoking marijuana when compared to periods of non-use of the drug, Mittleman found. In the second hour after smoking the drug, the risk was 1.7 times greater. Starting in the third hour after smoking marijuana, no significant risk rise was documented.

Increasing numbers of people in their 30s, 40s and 50s are marijuana users, as members of the post-World War II baby boom generation who may have started using the drug in the 1960s and 1970s trek through middle age, experts said. Men beginning at about age 45 and women a few years later are at paramount risk of a heart attack.

Mittleman said that while the increased risk may be negligible for young marijuana users, it could be deadly for people already at higher risk by virtue of their age or other risk factors.

``I think the message is that for individuals who are entering the age group where coronary disease is prevalent -- particularly if they have established coronary disease or have multiple risk factors -- that they should think about whether it's reasonable to continue smoking marijuana given that it does pose a real health risk to those individuals,'' Mittleman said in an interview.

The study appears in the journal Circulation, published by the American Heart Association.

Dangerous Than Sex:

Smoking marijuana was far less risky as a heart attack trigger than using cocaine, which raises the risk 25-fold during the first hour after use, the study found. The heightened risk from marijuana was roughly equivalent to vigorous exercise for someone of average fitness, and more dangerous than sexual intercourse for a sedentary person.

Some 124 patients in the study (116 men and 8 women) reported having smoked marijuana during the year prior to their heart attack. Their average age was about 44, with nearly a quarter of them aged 50 to 69. Nine said they had smoked marijuana within an hour before their heart attack.

Marijuana use may trigger a heart attack in one of several ways, said Mittleman, also an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health. He noted that smoking marijuana raises heart rate.

``We know that after smoking a single marijuana cigarette, there is a dose-dependent increase in heart rate, typically a doubling in heart rate is not at all surprising. There are also complicated effects on blood pressure,'' Mittleman added.

It may initiate a heart attack by causing a plaque inside a coronary artery to rupture and form a clot, which can block the flow of blood to the heart muscle, the researchers said.

Marijuana use is also linked to a rise in the heart's demand for oxygen, while simultaneously lowering the supply of oxygen in the blood.

Source: Reuters
Published: Monday, June 11, 2001
Copyright: 2001 Reuters Limited.

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http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7522.shtml

CannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archives
http://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml


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Comment #22 posted by dddd on June 12, 2001 at 15:10:52 PT
jAHn
My compliments on your exquisite tirade....You are cool...

.........dddd

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #21 posted by jAHn on June 12, 2001 at 14:36:22 PT
And in Comparison to a Skydiver or Nascar Driver,
You'd be more Well Advised to Cop a hit off of a joint, than to do any of these Crazy "recreational" activities!
What's the heart attack ratio allotted to "Livin
on the edge-type-Danger-Folk?"
These Prohibitionists OUGHT to QUIT trying to prove their obviously biased "studies." This is Science? AS someone before me has said, "There's no REAL control group here!"
How can you Theorize upon such Individually Accountable Parameters that haven't even been Attributed to this "study?"
As Two "Careless Pot-Praising Posters" have posted in another article upon the same subject,
"It's BULLSHEEEEEIT!"
That, seemingly, has no smell...but dare not be fooled, for the smell does linger after the turd has been dropped and has had time to set in...eeew! What a dirty KKKountry us, "Stupid, Moronic, Liberal Americans", have to reside in.
A note to all countries that have problems with AmeriKKKa...
You're not ALONE! Keep up the Good Work! THis KKKountry HAS SUCKED FOR YEARS! Even in the 60's, shit wasn't that Great! And I am a big-thyme-"hippie"-lover!
Lots of the "fun" that happens in this country is just a LIE.
Who likes to watch Fuel-Injected-Cars racing around a track at speeds DANGEROUS enough to kill a Person (or two, three, even a Hundread)? Did you "fact-loving-pot-smokers" ever account for the chunks of metal, tires, and smoke that FLY into the crowd at these Dupont, Firestone, STP-Sponsored Events??? !!!NOT THIS DUMB LIBERTARIAN SLUT!!!
Just who the Hell says what is and ISN'T dangerous in this KKKountry?
Who enjoys watching the Ku Klutz Klan pick garbage up on a highway in order to Win a sign?
Who enjoys watching some Big, Padded Males run up and down a 100 hundread yard field chasing a mutilated chunk o' pigskin? Pulverizing the "hated" to the ground to acquire, "the winning goal?" How many legs have been cracked in half- resulting in a BLOODY mess upon their "ball field?"
This country is DE RANGED And the people who support SUCH tyranny OUGHT to get their hands a little dirty and HELP US THE FAHCK OUT!
I'm a 24 yr. old male who has tried playing just about every sport known to human and has suffered a horrifying pain from EACH "recreational activity." I only enjoy making/listening Psychedelic Music with friends that enjoy getting Fahcked up on Bongs, Peacepipes, clay pipes, corn-cob, etc...I'm sure that YOU get the picture. I have found a LOVE for the world through my appreciation for Art...namely Psychedelically Tripped Out Surreal and Abstract works...because they didn't do any harm to any others besides themselves (not that I'm shallow enough to know that some aren't offended by certain imagery, i do).
Remember this next time you might ask yourself,
"How are the dangers associated with other peoples' "recreational activities"- relative to my life and the dangers that i indulge in?"
Maybe this'll help people see that, even a person who enjoys heroin, isn't as "Far-out" as previously thought out to be?
I don't know for sure, it's hard to see through all of the smoke and mirrors...just like you.


[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #20 posted by jacksplace58 on June 12, 2001 at 05:10:06 PT
My own study
After I had my heart attack and started on the rehab program
I would smoke a bowl before I went to the class.
Here I was monitored by nurses as they tortured me with excercize,.something I had given up years ago.They checked blood pressure before, during, and after the regimine.
I started out at around 110/80, went to 140/120, and after 3 minutes at rest would be back to 110/80. heart rate went from 68 to 144 back to 68.
The doctor said that quitting tobacco and loosing 80 pounds before had saved my ass.
When I told him I smoke marijuana he said any smoking is bad,.....find another way to use if I must use.
I smoke to make the pain of a broken back, and a few more injuries bearable so I won't quit. the options are suffer or need a new liver and stomach if I use pharmacuticals to releave the pain.


[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #19 posted by dddd on June 12, 2001 at 03:47:10 PT
My favorite journalist
It's that no-name phantom writer again,,,telling us of another
"study",by,"researchers",,led by Murray Mittleman......


.....What a pile of raw,,fresh,,,steaming CRAP!!!....

This article means absolutly nothing,and has nothing to do
with factual reality......It serves only one purpose,and that
is to further demonize Marijuana,,and plant seeds of doubt
in the publics mind.

......you know that when no one takes credit for writing such pieces
of shit,that it most likely originated from the Ministers of Propaganda
and Bullshit at the ondcp.............

d
d
d
d


[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #18 posted by lookinside on June 11, 2001 at 21:22:00 PT:

a REALLY scary statistic...
not ONE person who ate carrots before 1850 is alive today!!!
(musta been the carrots)


[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #17 posted by Eric Beal on June 11, 2001 at 20:25:06 PT:

SourDough KnowS
(...............420-hilarious-420..............)

I admit -- I too am a Bread Eater ------
shame - Death to bakers


[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #16 posted by J.R. Bob Dobbs on June 11, 2001 at 18:04:10 PT
What I Tell You Three Times Is True
Funny how they never do any studies on the health risks of incarcerating people...

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #15 posted by Kickaha on June 11, 2001 at 17:42:53 PT
Periodicity
This does seem to be bogus sensationalism, but I don't think there's any more conspiracy than usual. The first article alludes to his presentation of the paper at a seminar, this one is about its publication in Circulation, the journal of the American Heart Association. That's two strikes, do you think they will tout it so highly when it's peer-reviewed for strike three?

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #14 posted by SourDough on June 11, 2001 at 17:34:32 PT
Bread Eater
Bread Is Dangerous

Important Warning for those who have been drawn unsuspectingly into
the
use of bread:

1. More than 98 percent of convicted felons are bread users.

2. Fully HALF of all children who grow up in bread-consuming
households score below average on standardized tests.

3. In the 18th century, when virtually all bread was baked in the
home, the average life expectancy was less than 50 years; infant
mortality rates were unacceptably high; many women died in
childbirth;
and diseases such as typhoid, yellow fever, and influenza ravaged
whole
nations.

4. More than 90 percent of violent crimes are committed within 24
hours of eating bread.

5. Bread is made from a substance called "dough." It has been proven
that as little as one pound of dough can be used to suffocate a
mouse.
The average American eats more bread than that in one month!

6. Primitive tribal societies that have no bread exhibit a low
incidence of cancer, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease, and
osteoporosis.

7. Bread has been proven to be addictive. Subjects deprived of bread
and given only water to eat begged for bread after as little as two
days.

8. Bread is often a "gateway" food item, leading the user to "harder"
items such as butter, jelly, peanut butter, and even cold cuts.

9. Bread has been proven to absorb water. Since the human body is
more
than 90 percent water, it follows that eating bread could lead to
your
body being taken over by this absorptive food product, turning you
into
a soggy, gooey bread-pudding person.

10. Newborn babies can choke on bread.

11. Bread is baked at temperatures as high as 400 degrees
Fahrenheit! That kind of heat can kill an adult in less than one
minute.

12. Most American bread eaters are utterly unable to distinguish
between significant scientific fact and meaningless statistical
babbling.

In light of these frightening statistics, we propose the
following bread restrictions:

1. No sale of bread to minors.

2. A nationwide "Just Say No To Toast" campaign, complete with
celebrity TV spots and bumper stickers.

3. A 300 percent federal tax on all bread to pay for all the societal
ills we might associate with bread.

4. No animal or human images, nor any primary colors (which may
appeal
to children) may be used to promote bread usage.

5. The establishment of "Bread-free" zones around schools.

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #13 posted by FoM on June 11, 2001 at 16:59:36 PT
Robbie You're Right
I went ahead and did a search for older articles and found it too. What is this all about then?

Marijuana Linked to Heart Attacks
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread4939.shtml


[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #12 posted by Robbie on June 11, 2001 at 16:41:05 PT
Broken record
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n306/a06.html?53797

This guy apparently trots out these numbers every few months to make a little attention for himself. There are quite a few quotes by this Mittleman guy where he repeats these same numbers. His only claim to fame? Or an ONDCP plant? You decide! :-)

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #11 posted by MikeEEEEE on June 11, 2001 at 16:14:23 PT
HA HA Again
And alcohol is an aggressive drug that causes property damage and many deaths. This is more useless propaganda with a bit of reefer madness.

[and more dangerous than sexual intercourse for a sedentary person]

Did this crap come from a preacher?

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #10 posted by Gary Storck on June 11, 2001 at 16:07:14 PT
Junk Science
This study certainly is, and instead of this crap why isn't legitimate research into the medical uses of cannabis being allowed? The feds have known for years it can help ease suffering, prolong lives, save lives, but instead of making it available, they withhold it and allow Americans to needlessly suffer and die. Generations of patients have suffered and died while the federal government stood by, denying them a tool that could do so much good.

ABCNEWS had a piece tonight about air pollution causing heart attacks. But of course, air pollution is good for business, so those deaths are just more collateral damage.

Almost a year ago the federal government murdered Peter McWilliams by withholding the cannabis he needed to stay alive. Where are the studies on the health risks of withholding medicine from the sick & dying.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #9 posted by The GCW on June 11, 2001 at 15:30:50 PT
What about...
milk? Did any drink milk just before the attack? Did any drink milk in the last year? Will I be ok? How about double bacon cheeseburgers? With secret sauce? Can I vaporize to reduce some of those unwanted parts of the plant? Will the government help inform the public about vaporizers to help lessen the dangers of cannabis use?

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #8 posted by Randy on June 11, 2001 at 15:21:42 PT
medical
if this survey is correct then tell me why they use marjuana for medicine, and why people have smoked it most of their lives and are still healthy even at a higher age group

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #7 posted by Eric Beal on June 11, 2001 at 15:05:07 PT:

I too am confused........
If:
>Starting in the third hour after smoking marijuana, no significant risk rise was documented.
Then why is it significant that:
>Some 124 patients in the study (116 men and 8 women) reported having smoked marijuana during the year prior to their heart attack.

With this rationale - I bet you could make a case for any item that can be consumed. Wait it gets better --

>Nine said they had smoked marijuana within an hour before their heart attack.

I bet more than 9 out of the 3,882 consumed coffee within the hour of their heart attack.

I bet 9 of them urinated within the hour of their heart attack.

I bet 9 of them told their Mommy that they love them within the hour of their heart attack.

What is going on?? --- seems like a poorly done study...........

Ethan Russo --- what's your comment?????

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #6 posted by FoM on June 11, 2001 at 15:03:06 PT
What if they are right?
Let's say for a minute that this study is correct. I've always been a person that believes in the quality of one's existence. Cannabis makes life easier. Mellow that's all. So quality of life is more important then longivity.

PS: I don't believe this study one little bit though. I have never met a person who has died of a heart attack that smokes marijuana. Not one! I'm old enough to be able to say that with conviction.

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #5 posted by sm247 on June 11, 2001 at 14:54:34 PT
No way j
I don't think this study holds "bong" water.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #4 posted by Juan Costo on June 11, 2001 at 14:45:40 PT
This tripe again
The very same statistically insignificant study made headlines about a year ago. Out of 3,882 patients who had heart attacks, 124 were current marijuana smokers and 9 had smoked within an hour of their heart attack. Studies involving 9 self-selected subjects are not newsworthy.

Notice that Reuters neglects to point out that the heart attack risk for an otherwise healthy 50-year-old man is about 10 in 1 million. Assuming Mittleman's junk science is real science, that would bring the risk to 50 in 1 million. I take greater risks commuting to work every day.

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #3 posted by Morgan on June 11, 2001 at 14:44:28 PT
Is this news?
Didn't I see this same 'study' being reported in the media a
few months ago?

*********************************************************

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #2 posted by mr.greenjeans on June 11, 2001 at 14:36:40 PT
heart attacks
Let's see, according to their figures, 124 out of 3,882 people who had heart attacks admited to smoking within one year of having their heart attack, which comes out to barely over 3% of the sample group. Less than 1% smoked within an hour of their heart attack. How is this significant? Is my calculator malfunctioning, or am I? Am I missing something here?

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #1 posted by jeff snyder on June 11, 2001 at 14:34:10 PT:

Just
Just kill me then. On my toumbstone put "He was happy while he lived". Please stop the war on drugs!!!

[ Post Comment ]

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