(Dennis Thompson/ HealthDay) — Smoking pot doesn’t do your heart or your brain any favors, a pair of new studies shows.
Frequent pot smokers are more than twice as likely to suffer a stroke compared with those who don’t partake, the first study found.
They’re also more likely to be hospitalized for a dangerously erratic heart rhythm, according to the second study.
Both studies are to be presented at an upcoming meeting of the American Heart Association (AHA), in Philadelphia, Nov. 16 to 18. Research presented at meetings is typically considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.
The findings are “thought provoking at a time when there is a great push to legalize marijuana, and the herb and its metabolites are being promoted as a cure-all for a myriad of medical conditions and ailments,” said Dr. Ranjit Suri, an electrophysiologist at Mount Sinai St. Luke’s in New York City. Suri was not part of either study. (…)