How safe is marijuana for people over 50? And it helps with pain management. There’s been a common misconception that marijuana is harmless and helps with pain management, but that’s not always the case.
Doctors in the United States and Canada are starting to warn people over the age of 50 about the risks of using marijuana.
As more states legalize medical and recreational marijuana use. Doctors see more patients with heart disease, high blood pressure, anxiety, depression, stroke, and cancer — all linked to marijuana use. If you’re over 50 years old, you should consider these facts before using medical or recreational marijuana.
Marijuana Use is Causing Severe Health Problems
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) reports that seniors are the fastest-growing marijuana users in the U.S. This may be because older people are becoming more open to the idea of using cannabis. However, marijuana use among the elderly is linked to severe health problems.
2. Marijuana use is causing severe health problems for seniors1 in 6 seniors who use marijuana report having a mental health condition. Depression and anxiety disorders are more common in marijuana users. These conditions can worsen mental health problems, such as Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, and Alzheimer’s.
Marijuana increases the risk of other health problems. Marijuana is a mood and social drug that can worsen depression, anxiety, and other mental health conditions. If you have these disorders, marijuana might worsen your symptoms.
3. More people are using marijuana. The number of people over 50 days using marijuana nearly doubled between 2012 and 2015. This is attributed to the legalization of medical and recreational use and older people’s benefit. One Gallup survey reports that 50 million U.S. adults have used marijuana at least once in their lifetime.
Marijuana use amongst seniors is linked to severe health conditions. Research shows that marijuana use increases the risk of a brain or nervous system tumor. Suppose you are a young adult who starts using marijuana in their 20s or 30s. In that case, there is a greater chance of having a cannabis tumor.
Suppose your use of marijuana increases during your 30s, the possibility of having a tumor increases. Health Canada reports that you can reduce the risk of developing a brain or nervous system tumor from using marijuana. If you have any questions about the above information, please discuss these with your doctor. “It is better to be anxious about a harmless substance than careless about a dangerous one.” — Alexander Pope You just read another post from In Fitness And In Health: a health and fitness community dedicated to sharing knowledge, lessons, and suggestions to living happier, healthier lives.
Marijuana Use is Linked to Heart Disease
According to a new study, marijuana use is associated with an increased risk of heart disease for older people.
The study, published in the American Heart Association’s journal Circulation. Found that people who used marijuana were more likely to have a stroke or heart failure than people who did not use marijuana.
Stroke is the number one killer in the United States, responsible for more than 600,000 deaths annually can be caused by any sudden blockage. Or weakening of the arteries that supply the brain with oxygen.
Marijuana affects the amount of cerebral blood flow and flow-mediated dilation in the brain. One theory about why marijuana can cause strokes is related to the loss of dopamine.
A natural brain chemical messenger that plays a crucial role in triggering processes like memory and learning.
Researchers believe that heavy marijuana use or abuse is known to cause low dopamine levels in the brain. This results in a decreased ability to spur the growth of new blood vessels in the brain and can be linked to Parkinson’s disease and dementia. “Aggravating factors include sedating agents like sedative hypnotics and muscle relaxants, muscle inflammation, chronic alcoholism, and obesity, and defend against compensatory efforts by the brain to attenuate the symptoms of these disorders,” wrote study authors.
Here are some other things older adults should be aware of about marijuana and their health. Other mental health issues, including anxiety, are more common in older adults, experts say. Medical marijuana is sometimes used to alleviate anxiety symptoms in people with dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.
However, early studies linking cannabis use to anxiety disorders are mixed.
Currently, there are various studies linking marijuana use to the mental health conditions depression, anxiety, and alcoholism, such as a 2019 study in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.
Yet another 2016 study in the Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry found that younger adults who used cannabis compared to those who didn’t have more depression symptoms at follow-up. Psychiatric conditions, like depression and anxiety, have many symptoms and causes.
Marijuana Use is Linked to Hypertension
Marijuana use is linked to hypertension (high blood pressure) in older people. The study found that marijuana use was associated with an increased risk of hypertension in adults aged 20 to 59 but not in older participants.
One small study showed that regular marijuana use during adulthood was linked to brain abnormalities and cognitive decline. Another study compared the brain development of people who used marijuana regularly in their teens to people who never used marijuana.
The two groups showed similar findings: they had smaller cerebellums, brains with fewer.
– white and grey matter, and deficits on cognitive tests.
These findings were consistent with an earlier study published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, which found better outcomes for people who began using marijuana early in life. Learn more about the health effects of marijuana use in older adults.
Before you decide to try medical or recreational marijuana, talk with your doctor first about the potential benefits and how you might reduce your risk of adverse effects.
You may have more to gain or to lose from trying medical marijuana use. You should know if you are using marijuana before you start taking prescription drugs. If you use marijuana but stop taking your medication, you could experience withdrawal symptoms.
Marijuana can interact with certain medications, including beta-blockers, seizures medication, and steroids. Your doctor can talk with you and determine if marijuana use is correct for you. There are plenty of myths surrounding marijuana that don’t deserve a place in your marijuana use strategy.
You shouldn’t use marijuana regularly if you have an existing heart condition, such as congestive heart failure or heart attack. Like anything else in the medical field, doctors get much conflicting information regarding marijuana and your heart.
Marijuana use during pregnancy has been linked with developmental issues such as low birth weight and pre-term delivery. Smoking marijuana is also connected with lung issues, learned deficits, and decreased cognitive function.
Marijuana use is Linked to Depression and Anxiety.
Marijuana use may have damaging effects on the brain, especially in older people. A study of more than 1,000 people in the United States found that marijuana use was associated with an increased risk of depression and anxiety in middle-aged and older adults.
It’s usually recommended that people over 50 take a few weeks of drug therapy before they start recreational or medical marijuana to let the body adapt to the toxins in the brain. But a new study, based on interviews with more than 500 adults in Vancouver, British Columbia, found that the same people are taking marijuana for conditions like chronic pain or nausea. Were two times more likely to develop a depressive disorder than their peers not taking marijuana?
Similarly, a study of 2,078 participants in Colorado and Oregon found heavy marijuana use during adolescence and young adulthood. When brain development is still occurring, it may be linked to an increased risk of depression and anxiety in adulthood.
To avoid these harmful effects, it’s best to wait at least two weeks before trying medical marijuana. While marijuana is proven to help manage symptoms of some conditions such as chemotherapy-induced nausea and pain, like seizures. It may also irritate or worsen another condition.
It’s often used as a meal cleanser, but smoking too much can damage your lungs, causing chronic coughing and difficulty breathing. Overeating can cause dehydration, headaches, and nausea. Even drinking alcohol-containing high concentrations of THC, the psychoactive component of marijuana, can make you tired and affect your memory and judgment.
If you or someone you love is considering using marijuana, talk to them about the potential effects. Even a brief, one-time use is unlikely to have many lasting effects. However, for those suffering from debilitating conditions, when marijuana provides relief, it can be a godsend. Taking a few weeks off of it may give you enough time to let your body adjust, and then you can make a careful decision about your future use.
Marijuana Use Can Lead to many Types of Cancer.
Marijuana use increases your risk of getting cancer, mainly if you use it when you’re younger. Marijuana use has been linked to a higher risk of developing various cancers, including lung cancer, throat cancer, testicular cancer, breast cancer, and colorectal cancer.
A study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal found that regular marijuana users have a 2 to 7 times higher risk of developing lung, heart, and brain cancer after adjusting for other factors.
[The increased risk from cannabis is almost certainly not due to the THC itself and probably only becomes significant after factoring in other potentially confounding variables that can occasionally confound association studies.]
Such as selection bias, confounding by consuming other substances not controlled for, residual confounding, and reverse causation. Which is the assumption that some substances cause some event in a person without necessarily causing the first thing,” wrote study authors.
They later added that more research is needed to evaluate the link. Smoking marijuana increases your risk of developing acute symptoms lasting the next day or two. If you don’t notice anything after a day or two, take it as a cautionary note, and don’t overload your body with THC in one sitting.
If you do have intense THC-induced effects, stop using the cannabis and see your doctor right away. If you need more information on how to lower your risk of developing a THC overdose, visit the National Institutes of Health. This is one of several reasons you should smoke or chew cannabis, other than the fact that it makes you high. People who do heavy exercise are more likely to develop adverse effects from inhaling too much carbon monoxide, a toxic gas found in cigarette smoke.
According to the Mayo Clinic, side effects of inhaling carbon monoxide include dizziness, faintness, confusion, fainting, and unconsciousness. Excessive marijuana exposure can have harmful effects on your hearing, causing hearing loss. People who use cocaine over long periods have an increased risk of cancer.
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