Question of the day: How many pot-heads know the side effects of marijuana?
My daughter would be the first to tell you that weed has ate up her memory. But because she is addicted to marijuana ...she just makes it a part of her 'normal life style'. At age 40 she was dignosed as having dementra. It breaks my heart to know that any country would make legalize/or even tolerate those distribing [selling weed]in ANY form to its citizens. Greed don't have feelings and the greedy just don't care. jt
Marijuana, weed, cannabis, hashish, bud, skunk, ganja, ‘erb and so many other names are used for the naturally occurring substance that has been used for hundreds of years as a relaxant or a mild hallucinogenic. Marijuana is actually a Spanish word and refers to the dried leaves, flowers, stems or seeds of a hemp plant known as Cannabis Sativa.
One of most active ingredients of marijuana is Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, commonly referred to as THC, which has the potential for making humans high.
When THC enters the blood, its mind-altering capabilities come into action pretty quickly. THC and some other compounds can affect the way your body works.
Most types of cannabis are mild, however, strong cannabis (e.g. skunk or purple haze) or too much usage can have stronger effects such as hallucination while some people also report increased anxiety and paranoia. Although it doesn’t augment risk-taking behavior like alcohol does, weed does impair mental functions such as memory, attention, and performance, which makes driving or operating heavy machinery risky.
While many believe marijuana to be extremely dangerous, it’s actually considerably less harmful than other substances in the same class such as barbiturates, amphetamines etc. In fact, occasional use of weed is hardly ever associated with any health issues. Even for serious users, science has yet to prove any solid evidence of major health problems for the users or the society. Especially in individuals who are otherwise healthy, the biggest real harm marijuana can do is impaired control of movements.
When smoked, marijuana can increase your heart rate up to two times from the normal rate. The increased heartbeat rate is often linked to increased chances of heart attack, and that’s why doctors recommend heart patients to stay away from any form of cannabis.
Modern scientific studies confirm that unlike tobacco cigarettes, smoking cannabis isn’t linked to higher chances of getting lung cancer. But it can cause a cough and chest colds, and extended heavy use is also associate with lung irritation.
Some people believe they achieve better concentration and mental stability after smoking weed, but THC in cannabis can have both short-term and long-term effects on the human brain.
For men, frequent heavy use of marijuana can affect sexual health by lowering their testosterone levels and sperm count, which could result in reduced fertility. Likewise, pregnant women, as well as babies in their womb, can be affected by marijuana use. For instance, because of the high levels of carbon monoxide in the smoke, birth weight could be lower than normal of the children whose mother has been smoking weed during pregnancy.
https://vapingdaily.com/marijuana-side-effects/The study was a meta-review of research looking at sperm counts over the past four decades, and it included 185 studies that encompassed more than 40,000 men. Between 1973 and 2011, the paper's authors concluded, the men's sperm counts fell by more than 50 percent.
https://www.discovermagazine.com/health/sperm-counts-are-on-the-decline-is-the-human-race-in-dangerThe rising use of these products has raised questions about the impact on the heart. Evidence has shown that recreational use of any of these products is not beneficial for the heart, although specific mechanisms behind these effects are still to be determined. Recent studies have determined specific pulmonary effects, particularly with THC-containing e-liquids causing e-cigarette or vaping product use-associated lung injury (EVALI).
“Even if the cardiovascular signal turns out not to be as strong as for pulmonary disease, it is not likely that these behaviors and these products are going to be safe overall,” Michael J. Blaha, MD, MPH, director of clinical research and professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease and a Cardiology Today Next Gen Innovator, said in an interview.
The American Heart Association published a scientific statement in Circulation, which stated there is no documented benefit of cannabis use for CVD prevention or treatment. Moreover, the statement detailed preliminary evidence that suggests cannabis use may harm the heart and blood vessels.
AHA scientific statement writing group member Jamal S. Rana, MD, PhD, FACC, chief of cardiology at Kaiser Permanente Oakland Medical Center and adjunct researcher in the division of research at Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, California, told Cardiology Today the statement included the latest available data and addressed the clinical, policy and public health implications of the issue.
https://www.healio.com/news/cardiology/20201113/cardiologists-have-growing-concerns-about-cv-harm-from-marijuana-vaping
