Role of cannabis in cardiovascular disorders

Abstract

The growing popularity of medical and recreational consumption of cannabis, especially among the youth, raises immediate concerns regarding its safety and long-terms effects. The cardiovascular effects of cannabis are not well known. Cannabis consumption has been shown to cause arrhythmia including ventricular tachycardia, and potentially sudden death, and to increase the risk of myocardial infarction (MI). These effects appear to be compounded by cigarette smoking and precipitated by excessive physical activity, especially during the first few hours of consumption. Cannabinoids, or the active compounds of cannabis, have been shown to have heterogeneous effects on central and peripheral circulation. Acute cannabis consumption has been shown to cause an increase in blood pressure, specifically systolic blood pressure (SBP), and orthostatic hypotension. Cannabis use has been reported to increase risk of ischemic stroke, particularly in the healthy young patients. The endocannabinoid system (ECS) is currently considered as a promising therapeutic target in the management of several disease conditions. Synthetic cannabinoids (SCs) are being increasingly investigated for their therapeutic effects; however, the value of their benefits over possible complications remains controversial. Despite the considerable research in this field, the benefits of cannabis and its synthetic derivatives remains questionable even in the face of an increasingly tolerating attitude towards recreational consumption and promotion of the therapeutic complications. More efforts are needed to increase awareness among the public, especially youth, about the cardiovascular risks associated with cannabis use and to disseminate the accumulated knowledge regarding its ill effects.

Genome-wide DNA methylation analysis of heavy cannabis exposure in a New Zealand longitudinal cohort

“…Pathway enrichment revealed that hypermethylation in cannabis-only users was overrepresented in genes associated with cardiomyopathies and neural signalling. This is consistent with the literature which raises clinical concerns around cardiac complications potentially associated with cannabis use 100–103 . The enrichment of genes associated with neural signalling pathways is also consistent with the literature, including previous analyses of the CHDS cohort, which report associations between cannabis exposure and brain related biology such as mood disorders 7; 12; 48; 49; 51–54; 104; 105 .…”

Распространенность Психоактивных Веществ Как Анестезиологическая Проблема

“…Слід пам'ятати, що дози опіоїдів для знеболювання в післяопераційному періоді можуть бути вищими в осіб, які вживають канабіс. Отже, дуже важливим для анестезіолога є діагностичні заходи та вміння запідозрити вживання канабісу [42].…”

Shox2: The Role in Differentiation and Development of Cardiac Conduction System

“…After years of exploration and practice, there is still room for improvement of symptomatic treatment methods including pharmacotherapy, percutaneous catheter ablation, or pacemaker implantation (Nattel and Carlsson 2006;Carlsson et al 2010;Yamada and Kay 2012;Vernooy et al 2014). Many factors can disrupt cardiac rhythms, including myocardial ischemia, prescription drugs, electrolyte disorders, smoking, alcohol, coffee, physical exercise, mental stimulation, ion channel abnormalities, or genetic defects (Kathiresan and Srivastava 2012;Peyronnet et al 2016;Weisbrod et al 2016;Chrysant 2017;Du et al 2017;Goyal et al 2017). Undoubtedly, defects of cardiac pacemaker cells and the corresponding tissues also disrupt cardiac rhythms (Yazawa et al 2011;Vedantham 2015).…”