I was talking to Respirologist and he said that a lot of the damage is from the hot air. this is a large study, so more credible.
Researchers with University of Ottawa and Ottawa Hospital share findings from a 15-year-long investigation
A preliminary Canadian study exploring the effects of cannabis smoking on lungs found that weed users have higher rates of emphysema and airway diseases than their non-smoking or tobacco-only smoking counterparts.
Despite higher global cannabis consumption — the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime reported in 2022 that legalization in North America appears to have increased daily cannabis use — investigators with the University of Ottawa and The Ottawa Hospital say there’s little evidence of the associated effects on lungs.
To get a better picture of what those effects might be, researchers evaluated chest CT (computerized tomography) scans taken between October 2005 and July 2020 for marijuana smokers, non-smokers and tobacco-only smokers over age 50 who had been heavy cigarette smokers for more than 25 years. Researchers ended up evaluating 56, 57 and 33 such smokers, respectively.
Investigators then compared the rates of paraseptal emphysema (which damages the tiny ducts that connect to the air sacs in the lungs), airway changes, gynecomastia (overdevelopment or enlargement of the breast tissue in men or boys that is associated with a slightly higher risk of breast cancer) and coronary artery calcification (calcium builds up in the walls of coronary arteries that supply blood to the heart muscle).
Published in peer-reviewed Radiology, a journal of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), the preliminary findings show 75 per cent of cannabis smokers had emphysema compared to just five per cent of non-smokers. Tobacco-only smokers were closer to weed smokers, with 67 per cent having the disease.
Looking at age specifically, emphysema rates were higher in 93 per cent of cannabis smokers compared to 67 per cent of tobacco-only smokers.
Beyond emphysema, though, “rates of bronchial thickening, bronchiectasis and mucoid impaction were higher among marijuana smokers compared with the other groups,” study authors write. Additionally, gynecomastia was more common in cannabis smokers, noted in 38 per cent of the group, than the 16 per cent in non-smokers and 11 per cent in tobacco-only smokers.
Researchers noted that the reason for higher rates of emphysema and airway inflammation in cannabis smokers “may be due to the way that marijuana is smoked and the fact that marijuana smoke enters the lungs unfiltered,” notes a statement from the RSNA.
This results in more particulates reaching the airways from smoking marijuana, the statement explains, adding that cannabis is inhaled with a longer breath hold and puff volume than tobacco smoke.
“It has been suggested that smoking a marijuana joint deposits four times more particulates in the lung than an average tobacco cigarette,” says study author Dr. Giselle Revah, a radiologist at The Ottawa Hospital and an assistant professor at the University of Ottawa. “These particulates are likely airway irritants.”
Dr. Revah told CNN that airway inflammation early on is reversible. “When I see mucus and thickening of the airways, if you stop the exposure, that should improve. But sometimes that can lead to dilatation of the airways and when it’s dilated, then it’s irreversible,” she explained.
www.thegrowthop.com
Researchers with University of Ottawa and Ottawa Hospital share findings from a 15-year-long investigation
A preliminary Canadian study exploring the effects of cannabis smoking on lungs found that weed users have higher rates of emphysema and airway diseases than their non-smoking or tobacco-only smoking counterparts.
Despite higher global cannabis consumption — the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime reported in 2022 that legalization in North America appears to have increased daily cannabis use — investigators with the University of Ottawa and The Ottawa Hospital say there’s little evidence of the associated effects on lungs.
To get a better picture of what those effects might be, researchers evaluated chest CT (computerized tomography) scans taken between October 2005 and July 2020 for marijuana smokers, non-smokers and tobacco-only smokers over age 50 who had been heavy cigarette smokers for more than 25 years. Researchers ended up evaluating 56, 57 and 33 such smokers, respectively.
Investigators then compared the rates of paraseptal emphysema (which damages the tiny ducts that connect to the air sacs in the lungs), airway changes, gynecomastia (overdevelopment or enlargement of the breast tissue in men or boys that is associated with a slightly higher risk of breast cancer) and coronary artery calcification (calcium builds up in the walls of coronary arteries that supply blood to the heart muscle).
Published in peer-reviewed Radiology, a journal of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), the preliminary findings show 75 per cent of cannabis smokers had emphysema compared to just five per cent of non-smokers. Tobacco-only smokers were closer to weed smokers, with 67 per cent having the disease.
Looking at age specifically, emphysema rates were higher in 93 per cent of cannabis smokers compared to 67 per cent of tobacco-only smokers.
Beyond emphysema, though, “rates of bronchial thickening, bronchiectasis and mucoid impaction were higher among marijuana smokers compared with the other groups,” study authors write. Additionally, gynecomastia was more common in cannabis smokers, noted in 38 per cent of the group, than the 16 per cent in non-smokers and 11 per cent in tobacco-only smokers.
Researchers noted that the reason for higher rates of emphysema and airway inflammation in cannabis smokers “may be due to the way that marijuana is smoked and the fact that marijuana smoke enters the lungs unfiltered,” notes a statement from the RSNA.
This results in more particulates reaching the airways from smoking marijuana, the statement explains, adding that cannabis is inhaled with a longer breath hold and puff volume than tobacco smoke.
“It has been suggested that smoking a marijuana joint deposits four times more particulates in the lung than an average tobacco cigarette,” says study author Dr. Giselle Revah, a radiologist at The Ottawa Hospital and an assistant professor at the University of Ottawa. “These particulates are likely airway irritants.”
Dr. Revah told CNN that airway inflammation early on is reversible. “When I see mucus and thickening of the airways, if you stop the exposure, that should improve. But sometimes that can lead to dilatation of the airways and when it’s dilated, then it’s irreversible,” she explained.
Canadian study claims smoking weed more harmful than tobacco
Findings part of a 15-year-long investigation by researchers from the University of Ottawa and Ottawa Hospital
www.thegrowthop.com
