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Cannabis, Other Drugs Linked With Increased Risk of Atrial Fibrillation
Methamphetamine, cocaine, opiate, and cannabis use were each associated with a substantially increased rate of incident atrial fibrillation in a population-based study of patients in California. Researchers published their findings online ahead of print in the European Heart Journal.
“The arrhythmogenic risks associated with some of the nation’s commonly used substances are still poorly understood,” wrote researchers from the University of California San Francisco. “Given that the studied substances range from central nervous system stimulants to depressants, the mechanism of action for the observed associations is a potential topic of much discussion and investigation.”
The longitudinal analysis included more than 23 million adults who received care in California between 2005 and 2015. Researchers looked at health care codes for the use of methamphetamine, cocaine, opiate, and cannabis as well as a new diagnosis of atrial fibrillation.
Among all patients, 98,271 used methamphetamine, 48,701 used cocaine, 10,032 used opiates, and 132,834 used cannabis, and 998,747 developed atrial fibrillation.
The incidence of atrial fibrillation was increased among patients who used any of the 4 drugs, according to the study. After adjustment for potential confounders and mediators, use of methamphetamines increased atrial fibrillation risk 86%, use of cocaine increased atrial fibrillation risk 61%, use of opiates increased atrial fibrillation risk 74%, and use of cannabis increased atrial fibrillation risk 35%.
“Despite exhibiting a weaker association with incident atrial fibrillation than the other substances, cannabis use still exhibited an association of similar or greater magnitude to risk factors like dyslipidemia, diabetes mellitus, and chronic kidney disease,” researchers wrote. “Furthermore, those with cannabis use exhibited similar relative risk of incident atrial fibrillation as those with traditional tobacco use.”
Study authors reiterated the need for research into the causal links between these substances and the increased risk of incident atrial fibrillation.
“In the meantime,” they wrote, “our work supports the continued medical and community efforts aimed at reducing substance abuse and shows that these efforts may have the potential to reduce long-term cardiovascular complications associated with atrial fibrillation.”
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