Marijuana appears to have triggered a heart attack in a healthy 21-year-old British man, according to a new report of the case.
The young man at was reportedly a regular marijuana and cigarette smoker, but went into cardiac arrest after smoking pot. Experts now say his case and others suggest there may be a link between the drug and heart problems, the
LiveScience Website reports.
According to the case report, published in The Journal of Emergency Medicine, the man arrived at the emergency department in Wales and said that he had a sharp pain on the left side of his chest that had lasted for 30 minutes. He said the pain started after he played soccer.
A month earlier, the man had come to the same department with similar symptoms, also after a game of soccer. But at that time the doctors at the University Hospital of Wales, in Cardiff, thought the pain was caused by an injury to a muscle. But when he showed up to the hospital for the second time, the doctors found that the man's cholesterol and triglyceride levels were higher than they should have been.
"Although our patient was a cigarette smoker and had elevated lipid levels, cannabis use was identified as the most significant precipitant of his acute coronary syndrome,” the researchers wrote in the study.
Acute coronary syndrome is related to the obstruction of the coronary arteries, which feed the heart muscle itself, which may occur as a result of a heart attack
Marijuana is not considered a common risk factor for heart attacks, but there is evidence suggesting a link in rare cases. A 2001 study published in the journal Circulation concluded that smoking marijuana increased people's risk of a heart attack nearly five times in the first hour after smoking it.
There have been at least six other reports of heart attacks in young patients who had recently used marijuana, the researchers said, but noted it is not clear how pot may contribute to heart problems.
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