Marijuana Use Triples Risk for Hypertensive Death

저자：   업로드：2017-08-11  조회수：

    Marijuana is often associated with relaxation, but users might want to rethink this notion.  As the legalization and decriminalization of marijuana continue to spread across the U.S., so too have usage rates for the drug, especially in younger demographics. Over the years, research into the long-term effects of marijuana usage has been paltry and difficult to undertake due to legal restrictions and social stigmas. Yet, a handful of researchers have taken strides to push the limits of various research endeavors, to better understand the underlying biology of cannabis’ effects on the body.

    This is exactly what a team of investigators at the Georgia State University (GSU) School of Public Health set out to accomplish, reporting their recent study findings in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology in an article entitled “Effect of Marijuana Use on Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Mortality: A Study Using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey Linked Mortality File.”

    "Steps are being taken toward legalization and decriminalization of marijuana in the United States, and rates of recreational marijuana use may increase substantially as a result," explained lead study investigator Barbara Yankey, a doctoral candidate in the School of Public Health at GSU. "However, there is little research on the impact of marijuana use on cardiovascular and cerebrovascular mortality."

    Due to the lack of longitudinal data on marijuana use, the researchers designed a retrospective follow-up study of National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) participants aged 20 years and above. In 2005–2006, participants were asked if they had ever used marijuana. Those who answered "yes" were considered marijuana users. Participants reported the age when they first tried marijuana, and this was subtracted from their current age to calculate the duration of use.

    “We linked participants aged 20 years and above, who responded to questions on marijuana use during the 2005 US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to data from the 2011 public-use linked mortality file of the National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,” the authors wrote. “Only participants eligible for mortality follow-up were included. We conducted Cox proportional hazards regression analyses to estimate hazard ratios for hypertension, heart disease, and cerebrovascular mortality due to marijuana use. We controlled for cigarette smoking and other relevant variables.”

    In the current study, the research team estimated the associations of marijuana use, and duration

이전：Obese Mouse Model, Animal Models of Obesity

다음에：Antibacterial Exposure in Utero May Harm Developing Child