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  Study Cites Heart Attack Peril for Older MJ Users
Posted by FoM on June 12, 2001 at 08:04:34 PT
By Anne Barnard, Globe Staff 
Source: Boston Globe 

cannabis Their children rebelled and became stockbrokers. The pharmaceutical industry views them as a massive market for drugs to fight hair loss and impotence. Now, age is bringing baby boomers yet another indignity:

Smoking a joint may increase the chance of a heart attack, especially in someone already at risk, according to a study by Boston researchers published today in the journal Circulation.

For the first hour after smoking marijuana, a period longer than some highs, a person's risk of a heart attack is five times greater than usual, the study declared, adding marijuana use to a growing list of pleasures that may trigger heart attacks, including sex and big meals.

For the largest group of marijuana users, those between 18 and 25 years old, the risk doesn't mean much, said Dr. Murray Mittleman, an epidemiologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and one of the study's authors.

''A 20-year-old has a baseline risk of heart attack that's close to zero, so five times something very close to zero is still very close to zero,'' he said. Nor does marijuana pose a significant increased risk for a healthy 50-year-old.

But for older people with conditions that make them prone to heart attacks, such as coronary artery disease, high blood pressure, or diabetes, Mittleman said, ''the fivefold increase in risk may pose enough of a problem that should make them pause and think.''

The increased risk, though still small, could prove significant as the population bulge of the baby boomers moves into the age group most at risk for heart attacks, Mittleman said. Surveys suggest Bill Clinton's generation is still inhaling: As the youths of the 1960s age, marijuana use increases among older adults.

Mittleman's results hold no victory for drug warriors, or for pot enthusiasts.

''It's still an unanswered question as to whether there is a long term risk'' in smoking marijuana, he said. ''There's no strong evidence that there is a risk, but I think we need more research to have a definitive answer.''

Mittleman and his colleagues did not look at whether marijuana users are more likely to have heart attacks than the general population. Rather, their work was part of an ongoing investigation that looks at what can trigger a heart attack in a particular individual at a particular time.

Researchers surveyed 3,882 heart attack survivors, 124 of whom said they had smoked marijuana in the previous year. Of them, 37 reported smoking it in the 24 hours preceding their heart attack; nine in the preceding hour. Of those nine, three had also had sex or used cocaine, a drug that increases the risk much more sharply, by a factor of 24.

The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Law, a group that favors legalization, called the study's numbers ''tiny'' and pointed out that the increased risk from smoking a joint was equivalent to the risk of vigorous exercise for an average person, or of sex for a person with heart disease.

''When it was first reported of course it was kind of scary,'' said organization spokesman Keith Stroup. ''We got all these calls from people saying, `I've been smoking marijuana all my life. You mean I'm really going to have to give it up?' Well, if you're willing to give up sex you should give up marijuana, too. But I don't think I'd be giving up either one of them if I were you.''

Note: 5-fold risk seen for baby boomers.

Complete Title: Study Cites Heart Attack Peril for Older Marijuana Users

This story ran on page A21 of the Boston Globe on 6/12/2001.

Source: Boston Globe (MA)
Author: Anne Barnard, Globe Staff
Published: June 12, 2001
Copyright: 2001 Globe Newspaper Company
Contact: letter@globe.com
Website: http://www.boston.com/globe/

Related Articles & Web Site:

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Comment #18 posted by FoM on June 13, 2001 at 08:51:29 PT
My Response About Links
Hi m segesta,

I'm not sure what I should say about external links. I am only beginning to understand what Cannabis News is becoming and have no idea where it is going because we're not there yet. I do believe it takes many different opinions to find answers to all of our questions. I'll call it investigative journalism. Somewhere in those links we might find what we want to know. I do understand how you feel but what I want more then even doing the news is to have a nice community of people who look forward to coming to the site and learn and even laugh. All opinions are appreciated. The one thing that means more then anything to me is I don't like people fighting with each other. That is counter productive. We might see this whole drug war differently than someone else but that's how we learn to expand our thinking I believe. Thank you for the question and I hope this helps explain how I feel.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #17 posted by Daniel on June 13, 2001 at 08:16:05 PT
out of all those wonderful facts
What this sudy doesn't tell us is that the body develops a tolerance to marijuana. When marijuana is used routinely used the body builds up a tolerance and does not increase it's heart rate. So smoking marijuana daily dismisses the risk of a heart attack? No wonder they left that fact out.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #16 posted by dddd on June 13, 2001 at 07:21:51 PT
link kiosk
I dont think the links thing is out of hand....I see it more
as being thorough in documenting things people post to
back up their comments,,and to give people like Frances
some reading material....dddd


[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #15 posted by m segesta on June 13, 2001 at 06:51:47 PT:

I am all for signatures and I love the...........
links on C-News to other sites, where I have learned a lot. But don't you think the linking -- in the place of signatures at the end of a post -- can sometimes get out of control? I spent a lot of time this morning just scrolling links -- links that were repeated and repeated in the posts following many stories. When this happens, I feel like C-News is a wonderful library that some people are trying to turn into an ugly, over advertised, perversion of a kiosk.

Or is it just me displacing my annoyance at those statistical liars like Mittleman onto my friends here?

Everyone have a good day.....

M


[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #14 posted by DdC on June 12, 2001 at 15:39:55 PT
Everytime they rear their pointed little heads!
Everytime they rear their ugly pointed little heads I'll be there with a WoD Junkie WoD Whacker!LOL

This war started with racism and fascism and they expect that to change into medical conditions? Or lead to something not invented? Or ah duh golly we shoulds have an actual victim somewheres...Lets get 3000 porkers stuffing their colestrol ridden puss with Micky D lardburgers inbetween drags of Marlboro and swigs of Old Milwalkee and test them for cannabis? Smoke is smoke? Let them stick their heads in a room full of burning crude oil plastic...Cannabis prevents idiotism syndrom caused by sand perferating the ear drum after long exposure to burying ones head from reality! Cannabis can lead to AIDs if incarcerated and raped like thousands of prisoner deterrents. Sharing needles and smoking spiked pcp laced ditchweed creates statistics to keep this very profittable war going. Bush happens to be on the receiving end of many WoD projects for his portfolio, all cannabis prohibition investments, and that is what needs addressed along with the bias press. Politicans should not be permitted unethical positions of making policy on vested interest. That should be a no brainer, and is, least I forget whom I am speaking of.LOL

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[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #13 posted by Pontifex on June 12, 2001 at 14:15:34 PT:

Excellent responses
I'd just like to thank Dr. Russo and DdC for their invaluable responses.

It really chaps my hide to see this "Marijuana Increases Heart Attack Risk" splashed over every newspaper and newswire in the country, especially given the recent studies showing beneficial effects which have only been covered in the foreign press.

Dr. Russo, you and DdC provide the perfect antidote to the misinformation of the week. Please keep up your excellent commentary.

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #12 posted by Ethan Russo, MD on June 12, 2001 at 14:00:50 PT:

Late $0.02
I have been slow to jump in here since I still have not yet seen the text in the journal.

What people should keep in mind is that the newspaper articles describe a temporal association (things associated in time), but there is nothing that indicates an etiological relationship (causation) between cannabis smoking and having a heart attack.

The citation by Dr. Grinspoon of Steve Sidney's landmark study is a good one. Additionally, reviews of chronic use studies elsewhere fail to demonstrate a relationship of cannabis to myocardial infarction. Neither have EKG changes ever been noted in such trials. It is such a loose association that we did not even study it in our recent research study.

It is merely sad that news coverage is so skewed. Make some cock-eyed claim about the evil weed, and you will be a media star of the day. In contrast, publish genuinely novel research that shows benefits of cannabis on any of a hundred conditions, and you are apt to be ignored, or vilified as a "pothead" or "legalizer." What will the children think? Right now, they are thinking that politicians are corrupt fools with closed minds, and that they like to waste taxpayer money on propaganda via ONDCP, the Partnership for a Drug Free America, and their ilk.


[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #11 posted by Robbie on June 12, 2001 at 13:57:42 PT
More word play
Study Cites Heart Attack Peril for Older MJ Users

Did you notice "peril?" Not "risk," "danger," or "threat." Knowing that the article basically says that there's a very slight significance to the findings, they dress it up in "peril."

Funny, looking at thesaurus.com, under "peril" we have "Threat," and under "Threat"[verbs] we have:

threat, threaten; menace; snarl, growl, gnarl, mutter, bark, bully.
defy [more]; intimidate [more]; keep in terrorem, hold up in terrorem, hold out in terrorem; shake the fist at, double the fist at, clinch the fist at; thunder, talk big, fulminate, use big words, bluster, look daggers.

Sounds like a litany of actions by the drug-warriors, doesn't it?

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #10 posted by DdC on June 12, 2001 at 13:11:25 PT
Marijuana Heart Risk Insignificant says Expert
Subj: Marijuana Heart Risk Unlikely to be Significant, Says Expert
http://www.ukcia.org/news/2000/news/st2869.htm

Source: DRCNet, US
Date: 19 Mar, 2000

EDITOR'S NOTE: Last week, The Week Online ran a short overview of three new marijuana studies. Two of the studies, one from the UK that confirmed the benefits of marijuana in treating symptoms of multiple sclerosis and one from Spain indicating that THC might play a significant role in actually shrinking certain brain tumors, received little attention from the US media. The third, a report out of Harvard University that claimed an increased risk of heart attack within an hour of smoking, was front-page news across the country. Due to time constraints, we were unable to delve deeper into this report.

In the past week, we have received numerous e-mails from concerned readers asking about the validity of the report. This week, The Week Online spoke with Dr. Lester Grinspoon, also of Harvard. Dr. Grinspoon is one of the world's foremost marijuana researchers and is author of several books including the seminal "Marihuana Reconsidered."

Below is the overview that appeared in last week's issue, followed by our interview with Dr. Grinspoon, conducted March 15.

from The Week Online, Issue #128:

A study presented this week by Dr. Murray A. Middleman at the American Heart Association's annual conference on cardiovascular disease in San Diego, showed that smoking marijuana significantly raises the risk of heart attack in people already at risk through heart disease.

Dr. Middleman noted that marijuana's tendency to increase heart rates in reclining smokers, and for those rates to drop precipitously when the individual stands up, may pose significant risks for people with coronary disease. The group studied 3,882 heart attack sufferers, of which 124 were marijuana users. Of those, 37 claimed to have used marijuana within 24 hours of their heart attack, and 9 had used it within the previous hour. The risk, said the researchers, was 4.8 times higher than normal within an hour of smoking, but dropped precipitously to 1.7 times normal risk by the second hour.

Interview with Lester Grinspoon:

WOL: Dr. Grinspoon, what is your assessment of the Middleman report?

Dr. Grinspoon: (Laughs). I've been getting phone calls all week about it. I even spoke with Dr. Middleman this week to ask him for his report. It has not yet been written. In fact, he does have an abstract. Now, let me say that since 1967 there have been numerous reports and studies, each of which the American media has blown out of all proportion, stating one or another supposed ill effect of marijuana use. I can list them, if you'd like. 'Increase in the size of the ventricles, decrease in testosterone, destruction of chromosomes.' All were front-page stories, none of them have ever been replicated. In other words, they didn't pan out scientifically. Of course, the studies that contradicted them ended up on page 31 or thereabouts, if they got mentioned at all.

WOL: So you don't give much weight to Dr. Middleman's findings?

Dr. Grinspoon: Well, I would point out that out of 3,882 patients, we're talking about 9 who used marijuana within an hour of the onset of a heart attack. That's around 0.2%. By sheer mathematics, given that people sleep eight hours per day or so, we can deduce that 6.7% of those patients emptied their bowels within an hour of onset. It's incredible to me that the numbers here could be said to constitute a significant risk factor.

WOL: Dr. Middleman said in an interview that he believes that it is the increased heart rate from smoking marijuana that is responsible.

Dr. Grinspoon: Yes, and he put that increase at 40 beats per minute. In truth, that number is closer to 20 beats per minute, which is probably consistent with running up the stairs in one's house.

WOL: So you disagree with Dr. Middleman's characterization of the risk as 'significant'?

Dr. Grinspoon: First, let me say that I blame the media far more than I do Dr. Middleman. I read his abstract, and in its conclusion he cautioned against making too much of the data. Conceivably, there is some risk, although if there is, it is barely measurable. Even assuming that the data presented is right, one must still wait to see if it can be replicated.

WOL: You seem to be pretty skeptical about the chances of that happening.

Dr. Grinspoon: Well, in 1997, Kaiser Permanente did a large- scale study which included more than 65,000 admitted marijuana users, and they could not demonstrate any impact of marijuana use on mortality. If marijuana use really was a significant risk factor for heart attack, it is hard to believe that it didn't turn up there. Again, I'm not saying that there is absolutely no risk demonstrated here. But given the history of the research since 1967, I'd be surprised if these findings don't go down the same chute as all of the other front-page scare stories.

NOTE: In the April, 1997 edition of The American Journal of Public Health, Dr. Stephen Sidney writes about a long-term (12-year) study undertaken by Kaiser Permanente -- a medical insurer/provider, therefore an entity with a fiduciary interest in the integrity of the results -- into the mortality rates of marijuana smokers. The study population comprised 65,171 subjects aged 15 through 49 years. Conclusion: Marijuana use had little effect on non-AIDS mortality in men and on total mortality in women (Am J Public Health. 1997;87:585-590).

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[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #9 posted by greenfox on June 12, 2001 at 12:19:21 PT
Legalize the weed- today!
When I first met you,
didn't realize
now I can't forget you
or your surprise

you introduced me
to my mind
and let me watching...
you and your Kind

-gf


[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #8 posted by Rambler on June 12, 2001 at 12:04:41 PT
definite cattle droppings
this is like saying bacon users get more heart attacks,

come to think of it,I bet bacon users do have more heart attacks than Cannabis affectionados.

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #7 posted by Anonymous on June 12, 2001 at 10:29:44 PT
How's this for statistical analysis
Out of 3882 heart attack victims, only 124 of them were marijuana users. That means that 3758 heart attack victims DID NOT use marijuana. OHMYGAWD!!! NOT smoking marijuana CAUSES heart attacks!!

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #6 posted by Kickaha on June 12, 2001 at 09:48:36 PT
Tenor of Article
I think the most interesting thing about this article is unrelated to the subject. BG is a pretty conservative paper. Notice how we are called Pot Enthusiasts instead of dopers, potheads, or some other pejorative? I've never seen those quotes from Mittleman before, putting the study in context. And they ended with a quote from Stroup!



[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #5 posted by R.earing on June 12, 2001 at 09:39:20 PT:

study is wrong
I'm 35 and have had three heart attacks.I have three titanium mesh stents holding my coronary arteries open.I use MJ more or less daily. I find that MJ LOWERS my blood pressure, releives stress and normalizes my blood sugars. If I use alcohol,even in moderate doses,my heart immediately goes out of rythm and stays that way for hours.My blood pressure also goes up.

I think that MJ's side effects (caused by SMOKING it),are still safer than the side effects of ethanol. If Cannabis were legal and cheap,I could bake with it and NOT have an increased risk of cardiac problems.

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #4 posted by FoM on June 12, 2001 at 08:32:49 PT
My 2 cents
The one thing I believe that could give an older marijuana smoker a heart attack is prohibition! Fear of jail! That will do it!

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #3 posted by greenfox on June 12, 2001 at 08:29:38 PT
Thanks, Dan
I try to get a point across from time to time. ;) Actually, I try not to speak out unless it's important- but as we've both stated, this arcticle is...

well..

bullshit. :)

-gf


[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #2 posted by Dan B on June 12, 2001 at 08:25:26 PT:

Major Bovine Ca-Ca
"Mittleman and his colleagues did not look at whether marijuana users are more likely to have heart attacks than the general population. Rather, their work was part of an ongoing investigation that looks at what can trigger a heart attack in a particular individual at a particular time."

All this study proves is that a very small minority of people who have heart attacks smoke marijuana. In fact, the percentage of heart attack survivors who smoke marijuana is far smaller than the percentage of marijuana users in the general population. But the biggest problem with this study is revealed in the paragraph quoted above.

There was no control group. In short, they are comparing these numbers to . . . nothing. That fact alone reveals that there is no real relationship proved. There is an extremely statistically insignificant correlation between marijuana use in thepast hour and heart attacks. Think of it this way: 99.77% of the people who had heart attacks had not smoked marijuana in the hour before their heart attacks. Less than one quarter of one percent had.

This "study" is absolute bullshit, as greenfox rightly points out (good to hear from you, greenfox).

Dan B

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #1 posted by greenfox on June 12, 2001 at 08:09:38 PT
Bullshit
...and Georgie wasn't a cokehead.

bullshit

-gf

[ Post Comment ]


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