Is Cannabis a Heart-Breaker?

Two presentations at this year’s American Heart Association Scientific Sessions report that cannabis may lead to poorer outcomes for patients with heart conditions (1). One study suggested that cannabis smokers who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention to unblock an artery in the heart were 50 percent more likely to suffer bleeding after the procedure and may be more likely to suffer a stroke.

A second study found that heart attack survivors who used cannabis (consumption method not recorded) were more likely to have a second heart attack than non-users.

Both studies were based on reviews of medical records, so it’s difficult to draw conclusions about cause and effect. But more research on this patient group is definitely needed – one of the studies recorded much higher cannabis use among patients who had survived a heart attack or revascularization treatment.