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Cannabis use may decrease AF risk in patients with HF
Patients with HF who used cannabis had a decreased risk for atrial fibrillation compared with those who did not use cannabis, according to a study published in The American Journal of Cardiology.
Oluwole Adegbala, MD, MPH, medical resident in the department of internal medicine at Seton Hall University Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine in Englewood, New Jersey, and colleagues analyzed data from the 2014 Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project of patients with a diagnosis of primary and secondary HF. Other patients including those with discharge diagnoses of AF and both dependent and nondependent users of cannabis were identified. Those with disorders for abuse of substances such as antidepressants, sedatives and cocaine were excluded.
Other data including hospital- and patient-level characteristics were assessed.
Patients with HF who used cannabis were matched with patients with HF who did not use the drug.
In 2014, an estimated 3,950,392 patients were admitted to the hospital with a diagnosis of HF in the United States. Among those patients, an estimated 0.45% of patients used cannabis, according to the researchers.
Compared with nonusers, those who used cannabis had a reduced incidence of AF (19.08% vs. 21.39%; P = .015) and a 13% reduction in the odds of developing AF (adjusted OR = 0.87; 95% CI, 0.77-0.98). The odds were still significant after adjusting for patient-related, demographic and hospital-related variables (aOR = 0.85; 95% CI, 0.78-0.93).
“The finding that cannabis use is associated with a reduction in the incidence of AF in HF may be related to active agents in cannabis, some of which have been shown to have cardioprotective effects in animal models with the possibility of similar mechanisms in humans,” Adegbala and colleagues wrote. “The cardioprotective effect observed may be due to inhibition of atherosclerotic plaque progression, a modulatory effect on blood pressure and diabetes or reduction in inflammation and modulation of reperfusion injury reported in various animal models.” – by Darlene Dobkowski
Disclosures: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.