Weed acutely aggravates arrhythmia

Marijuana use appears to increase the burden of arrhythmias, reports a recent study.

Researchers conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 1,485 participants, of whom 40 (3 percent) reported current marijuana use, 71 (5 percent) reported past use, and 29 (2 percent) reported use but with unspecified recency. All participants underwent electrocardiography monitoring.

In terms of frequency, 61 reported using marijuana ≥3 times per week, while 51 had less frequent use patterns. Current and past marijuana users were more likely to be men, younger and heavier, and also more likely to be past or current cigarette smokers than nonusers. Meanwhile, a history of myocardial infarction, heart failure, or stroke was present in 7 percent of participants.

Supraventricular arrhythmias were more common among current marijuana users, including higher average premature atrial contractions (PAC)/hour, runs of supraventricular tachycardia (SVT)/day, and runs of nonsustained ventricular tachycardia (NSVT)/day. A run was defined as ≥4 PACs.

Multiple linear regression analysis revealed signals of association between current marijuana use and elevated runs of SVT/day (geometric mean ratio, 1.42, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.87–2.32), PACs/hour (geometric mean ratio, 1.22, 95 percent CI, 0.72–2.13), and runs of NSVT/day (geometric mean ratio, 1.28, 95 percent CI, 0.95–2.02), though these fell short of significance.

Interactions between these arrhythmia indices and past marijuana use were largely null.

“We did not find compelling evidence to suggest an increased risk of arrhythmias when assessing past use of marijuana. This may suggest that the potential impacts of marijuana use on arrhythmia risk are acute rather than long lasting, and that after extended periods of nonuse, the risks subside,” the researchers said.

“Additional studies using a longitudinal design are needed to clarify if marijuana use causes arrhythmias or other cardiovascular complications,” they added.