CVD risk factors associated with cannabis use
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Elevated atherosclerotic CVD risk was linked to cannabis use in a study published in the American Journal of Cardiology.
“In this cross-sectional analysis, cannabis use was significantly associated with a composite of CVD risk factors estimated using the 10-year ASCVD risk score,” Travis M. Skipina, MD, internal medicine resident at Wake Forest School of Medicine, and colleagues wrote.
Of 7,159 participants (mean age, 38 years; 49% men) in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2011 to 2018 who were older than 18 years, had no history of CVD and who self-reported cannabis use status, 63.9% said they had ever used cannabis. All study participants were assessed for low (less than 5%), borderline (5% to 7.4%), intermediate (7.5% to 19.9%) or high (20% or more) 10-year ASCVD risk using the validated American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association ASCVD risk score.
Participants who reported ever using cannabis had 60% increased odds of high ASCVD risk (OR = 1.6; 95% CI, 1.04-2.45), 49% increased odds of intermediate risk (OR = 1.49; 95% CI, 1.26-1.78) and 51% increased odds of borderline risk (OR = 1.51; 95% CI, 1.23-1.84).
“In addition, we also observed a dose-response relation between increased use of cannabis and a higher risk of ASCVD,” the authors wrote.
For participants reporting one or more uses of cannabis per day, the OR was 1.72 (95% CI, 1.38-2.16) for borderline risk, 1.94 (95% CI, 1.60-2.35) for intermediate risk and 1.87 (95% CI, 1.160-3.01) for high risk.
“Because we excluded those with a history of CVD, our findings also have implications from a preventive cardiology standpoint,” the authors wrote.
The authors noted that their study had a few limitations, including that cannabis use was self-reported, and therefore, its prevalence may be underestimated because it is vulnerable to both reporting and recall bias.
And while there were various categories of the patients’ cannabis use histories, the authors did not obtain data regarding dosage, route of administration, or periods of abstinence, nor did they have data regarding the type of cannabis used.
“Despite these weaknesses, our study demonstrates a novel link between cannabis use and ASCVD,” Skipina and colleagues wrote.
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