Does Marijuana Help AFib?

Wondering if marijuana mightiness person a soothing effect connected your atrial fibrillation? Studies amusement that medical marijuana tin assistance with symptoms of immoderate conditions similar multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, and HIV/AIDS.

But for atrial fibrillation, the effects are much of a mixed bag.

A Bit of Good, More Bad

“It truly depends connected what you usage it for,” says Uma Srivatsa, MD, objective prof of medicine astatine UC Davis Health. “If you usage it to relieve pain, determination whitethorn beryllium a payment due to the fact that symptom tin trigger AFib.”

On the different hand, she says, debased levels of marijuana crook connected your “fight oregon flight,” oregon stress response. This means there’s a higher accidental that your racing, irregular heartbeat volition get worse. In fact, marijuana tin rise your heart rate for up to 3 hours aft you usage it. It besides makes stroke and heart disease much likely. That's important due to the fact that if you person AFib, your accidental of a stroke is already 5 times higher than idiosyncratic who doesn't person it.

Marijuana besides relaxes your blood vessels, which lowers your blood pressure. Srivatsa says this tin footwear disconnected a effect from your heart that's atrocious quality for AFib. When your humor unit goes down, your bosom complaint tin spell up. This is particularly existent successful older radical who person different heart problems.

Another tricky portion of the puzzle is however overmuch marijuana is OK to take.

“It’s important to recognize that we person legalized marijuana without knowing dose effects,” Srivatsa says. “For instance, we cognize what a ineligible humor intoxicant level is. But we don’t cognize what the ‘legal limit’ is for marijuana.

"How bash we find what makes you precocious vs. calm?”

Olujimi A. Ajijola, MD, PhD, a cardiologist astatine UCLA Health successful Los Angeles, says the overwhelming effect of marijuana connected your bosom is harmful.

“We counsel against it from a cardiovascular standpoint, successful general,” helium says. “I would decidedly caution against radical with AFib utilizing it.”

What the Studies Show

Most of the probe linking marijuana to bosom problems similar heart attack and changeable is based connected radical who fume it. Smoke has cancer-causing agents and different irritants that marque it harmful.

There aren’t arsenic galore studies yet connected the bosom effects of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) oregon cannabidiol (CBD), 2 of the progressive ingredients successful marijuana. Ajijola says that’s apt portion of the crushed wherefore determination aren’t immoderate authoritative guidelines connected marijuana usage from American College of Cardiology oregon the American Heart Association yet.

But he's beauteous definite they're coming.

“Inevitably, radical volition survey this,” Ajijola says. “I deliberation guidelines won't travel retired until there's capable information to suggest 1 mode oregon another, oregon capable radical inquire that the nine marque a statement.”

One happening helium says is clear, though, is that smoking -- of immoderate benignant -- is harmful to heart health.

“Any benignant of smoking includes hazard factors for cardiovascular disease,” Ajijola says. “Smoking marijuana carries galore of the aforesaid cardiovascular wellness hazards arsenic smoking tobacco.”

One caller survey seemed to suggest that marijuana mightiness really little your hazard of AFib. But Srivatsa

says it’s important to look much intimately astatine the radical successful the survey and however the researchers recovered their results. “I don’t deliberation we tin generalize this survey to each populations,” she says.

Ajijola agrees.

“It’s a precise circumstantial survey looking astatine radical who person conscionable suffered a bosom onslaught successful the hospital,” helium says. “The marijuana users were younger, mostly male, and they didn't person the accustomed hazard factors that caused radical to person bosom attacks.”

They fared amended aft their bosom attacks, but Ajijola says that’s apt due to the fact that they had less hazard factors for bosom problems successful the archetypal place.

“I deliberation the marijuana usage is conscionable helping place with little hazard factors and radical who are younger.”