Researchers study differences in ischemic stroke in marijuana users

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-10/acoc-rsd102215.php

Public Release: 26-Oct-2015
Researchers study differences in ischemic stroke in marijuana users
Stroke in marijuana users more often caused by narrowing of arteries in skull
American College of Cardiology

A new study found strokes in young adults who use marijuana are more likely to be caused by stenosis, narrowing of the arteries, in the skull than strokes in non-users.

Previous studies have found an association between marijuana use and stroke, but the new study published today as a research letter in the Nov. 3 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology is the first to explore differences in stroke in marijuana users and non-users, an approach that can help researchers begin to identify possible mechanisms for stroke in users.

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Ischemic stroke is caused by a blockage that interrupts or reduces blood flow to the brain as opposed to hemorrhagic stroke, which occurs when a blood vessel in the brain leaks or ruptures.

In marijuana users in the study, ischemic stroke was more likely to be caused by intracranial arterial stenosis, a condition where there is narrowing the arteries inside the skull caused by a buildup of plaque. Intracranial arterial stenosis was found in 45 percent of the marijuana users in the study compared to 14 percent of the non-users.

Marijuana users in the study were younger, more likely to be male, more likely to smoke tobacco, and more likely to have other lifestyle risk factors than non-users in the study.

Cardio embolism, a blood clot formed elsewhere in the body that moves to the brain, was most common cause of ischemic stroke in non-marijuana users in the study. Investigators found 29 percent of strokes in non-users were caused by cardio embolism compared to only 14 percent in the marijuana users.

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