Landa, Eric, Vigandt, Erika, Andreev, Alexander et al. · Cureus · 2019 · DOI
This case report describes one patient who had a heart attack (myocardial infarction) shortly after smoking marijuana. The patient was a 42-year-old man with no previous heart problems who experienced chest pain at rest about one hour after using marijuana. The authors suggest that marijuana may have triggered the heart attack, though this is considered a rare occurrence.
While not directly about ME/CFS pathophysiology, this case is relevant because fatigue is listed as a neuropsychiatric effect of cannabis, and some ME/CFS patients use cannabis to manage symptoms. Understanding potential serious cardiac risks of cannabis is important for informed decision-making about symptom management strategies in this vulnerable population.
This single case report does not prove that marijuana causes acute coronary syndrome, nor does it establish causation rather than temporal coincidence. The patient's age, sex, genetic predisposition, or unmeasured cardiovascular risk factors may have been the true cause of the myocardial infarction. This case cannot determine the frequency or likelihood of such cardiac events in cannabis users.
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