Smoking Pot May Hurt Young Hearts

Smoking pot can hurt your heart. New research reveals that the use of the controversial 'herb' can actually trigger heart conditions in young and middle-aged adults.

"In prior research, we identified several remarkable cases of cardiovascular complications as the reasons for hospital admission of young marijuana users," lead author Émilie Jouanjus, Pharm.D., Ph.D., a medical faculty member at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Toulouse in Toulouse, France, said in a news release. "This unexpected finding deserved to be further analyzed, especially given that the medicinal use of marijuana has become more prevalent and some governments are legalizing its use."

The latest study focused on serious cardiovascular-related complication following marijuana use that was reported to the French Addictovigilance Network from 2006 to 2010.

Researchers identified 35 cases of cardiovascular and vascular conditions related to the heart, brain and limbs.

The findings revealed that 35 of the 1,979 marijuana-related complications were cardiovascular. Out of the cardiovascular conditions, 22 were heart-related, including 20 heart attacks. Study data showed that 10 were peripheral with diseases related to arteries in the limbs, and the remaining three were related to the brain's arteries.

Researchers noted that the latest findings are important as the percentage of reported cardiovascular complications more than tripled from 2006 to 2010, and nine or 25.6 percent died.

"The general public thinks marijuana is harmless, but information revealing the potential health dangers of marijuana use needs to be disseminated to the public, policymakers and healthcare providers," Jouanjus said.

"There is now compelling evidence on the growing risk of marijuana-associated adverse cardiovascular effects, especially in young people," Jouanjus said. "It is therefore important that doctors, including cardiologists, be aware of this, and consider marijuana use as one of the potential causes in patients with cardiovascular disorders."

The findings are published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.