Can Medical Marijuana help decrease the Risk of a Heart Attack?
Today, there have been several speculations about the use of Marijuana. While some marijuana doctors believe it can be used to treat ailments ranging from migraines, chronic pain, to severe seizures and nausea, others believe it’s harmful to health. However, the big question is, “Can marijuana be used to save a life during a heart attack?
Well, let’s take a case study of an interview with Stephen Colbert.
In this interview, Kevin Smith, a director and actor, also known as Silent Bob along with his doctors made a strong statement that Kevin narrowly survived a heart attack because he was smoking shortly before the medical emergency. Kevin’s doctors claim the marijuana made him calm.
Could this be true?
However, according to experts, it is unlikely that marijuana helped Kevin survive the heart attack. These experts claim smoking must have triggered the attack in the first place. According to Dr. Bryant Nguyen, a board-certified cardiologist, it is very possible that the marijuana actually raised your heartbeat and increased the risk of a heart attack.
How people use Marijuana?
Before delving into the answer to the above question, let’s quickly examine the use of marijuana. In many states in the U.S, people legally use medical marijuana (gotten from the Cannabis sativa plant) for several health problems. To feel marijuana quickly, many individuals smoke it. However, marijuana smoke consists most of the toxins says Florida marijuana doctor, carcinogens, and irritants found in cigarette smoke (which is a major cause of cancer and heart disease).
Heart Attack and Marijuana
One thing scientists are certain of about the possibility of using marijuana to reduce the risk of heart attack is that; people tend to be more vulnerable to a heart attack when they smoke marijuana than when they don’t. They claim this is as a result of the complex effect of cannabinoids on the nervous system including dilating blood vessels, raising the heart rate and increasing the rate at which the heart pumps.
According to some marijuana doctors, the chance of heart attack is several times higher hours after an individual stops smoking than when he doesn’t. While this does not cause a significant threat to people with low cardiovascular risk, it is deadly to patients with a history of heart disease.
Although there is no strong proof for this, there are links to people having a higher risk of ischemic stroke or atrial fibrillation after the use of marijuana. Aside from the links, research made by Dr. Mukamal and his associates suggested that the smoking of marijuana could increase long-term death rate among survivors of a heart attack.