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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Cardiovasc. Med.
Sec. Hypertension
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fcvm.2024.1432923

Blood Pressure and Hypertension in Older Adults Who Regularly Smoke Cannabis: Findings from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA)

Provisionally accepted
Jamie Corroon Jamie Corroon *Ryan Bradley Ryan Bradley Matthew A. Allison Matthew A. Allison Igor Grant Igor Grant
  • University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Observational evidence investigating associations between cannabis use and blood pressure and hypertension is inconsistent.Methods: Cross-sectional data from 3,255 participants at Exam 6 (2016-2018) of the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) were analyzed, including self-reported cannabis smoking patterns, standardized measures of systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), pulse pressure (PP; BP collectively), and hypertension. ANCOVA and multivariable relative risk regression models were used to calculate adjusted means for BP and adjusted prevalence ratios (PRs) for prevalent hypertension.In fully adjusted ANCOVA models, a history of regular cannabis smoking, when compared to no history, was not significantly associated with increased SBP (mean difference: -0.1 mmHg (95% CI: -3.0 to 2.7)), DBP (mean difference: 0.5 mmHg (95% CI: -0.9 to 1.9)), PP (mean difference: -0.5 mmHg (95% CI: -2.7 to 1.7)), or prevalent hypertension (PR: 1.04 (95% CI: 0.97 to 1.11)). Furthermore, no associations were observed for either the duration or recency (in the past month) of cannabis smoking or number of joint/pipe years. Models exploring potential interactions between a history of regular cannabis smoking and age, sex, race/ethnicity, and cigarette smoking status were not significant for either BP or hypertension.In a cohort of racially and ethnically diverse older adults with a high prevalence of hypertension, no evidence of increased risk due to regular cannabis smoking was found for either the blood pressure or hypertension.

    Keywords: Cannabis, marijuana, Blood Pressure, Hypertension, cardiovascular disease

    Received: 14 May 2024; Accepted: 06 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Corroon, Bradley, Allison and Grant. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Jamie Corroon, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.