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Clinical Cardiovascular Effects of Cannabis Use

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Cannabis in Medicine

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Abstract

Cannabis is the most widely used drug worldwide, and with increasing prevalence, particularly of note in the United States where changes in legislation have led to increasing medical and recreational use. Cannabis’ numerous deleterious effects on the cardiovascular system remain underappreciated, which include increased myocardial oxygen demand, pro-oxidative stress, decreased myocardial contractility, promotion of atrial and ventricular arrhythmia, arrhythmia, stroke, arteritis, arterial dissection, myocardial infarction, and sudden cardiac death. Public health officials must consider cardiovascular health effects of marijuana as changes in legislation continue to promote increased marijuana use.

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Disclosures

The authors report no financial conflicts of interest. The views expressed are those of the author and do not reflect any official policy of Fort Belvoir Community Hospital, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, the Defense Health Agency, the Department of Defense, or the US government.

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Author notes

  1. Drs. Philip and Seifried were contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cardiology Service, Department of Medicine, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, USA

    Cynthia Philip & Rebecca Seifried

  2. Dalboni – DASA, São Paulo, Brazil

    Marcio Sommer Bittencourt

  3. Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein & School of Medicine, Faculdade Israelita de Ciência da Saúde Albert Einstein, São Paulo, Brazil

    Marcio Sommer Bittencourt

  4. Center for Clinical and Epidemiological Research, University Hospital & Sao Paulo State Cancer Institute, University of Sao Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    Marcio Sommer Bittencourt

  5. Fort Belvoir Community Hospital, Virginia, USA

    Edward Hulten

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  1. Cynthia Philip
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  3. Marcio Sommer Bittencourt
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  1. Springs Rehabilitation PC, Colorado Springs, CO, USA

    Kenneth Finn

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Philip, C., Seifried, R., Bittencourt, M.S., Hulten, E. (2020). Clinical Cardiovascular Effects of Cannabis Use. In: Finn, K. (eds) Cannabis in Medicine. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-45968-0_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-45968-0_9

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