Smoking Tobacco Plus Weed Greatly Raises Odds for Emphysema

Follow Drugslib on

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on Nov 28, 2023.

By Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, Nov. 28, 2023 -- Folks who smoke weed along with cigarettes are doing serious damage to their lungs, a new study warns.

People who do both are 12 times more likely to develop emphysema than nonsmokers, due to the damage they’re doing to the lung’s air sacs, researchers report.

“There is a common public misconception that marijuana smoking is not harmful,” said researcher Dr. Jessie Kang, a cardiothoracic radiologist at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, Canada.

“With our study, we show that there are physical effects of marijuana smoking on the lungs and that cigarette smoking and marijuana smoking may have a combined damaging effect on the lungs,” Kang added.

Even though weed is one of the most widely used psychoactive substances in the world, little is known about the effects of smoking cannabis on a person’s lung health, researchers noted.

Tons of research has linked cigarette smoking to lung cancer, emphysema and COPD, but “currently not much research exists on the effects of marijuana smoking on the lungs,” Kang noted.

For their study, Kang and her colleagues examined chest CT images of four patient groups – nonsmokers, cigarette smokers, marijuana smokers and combined tobacco and weed smokers.

Weed smokers included in the study had toked at least four times a month for at least two years, researchers said.

In addition to increased risk of emphysema, combined weed and cigarette smokers also were three to four times more likely to have airway wall thickening, researchers said. This thickening can contribute to infections, scarring and further airway damage.

The association with emphysema and airway wall thickening was not as significant for people who smoked either weed or cigarettes alone, results show.

This could mean that weed and cigarette smoke might somehow interact with each other to have even worse effects on the lungs and airways, the researchers said.

The findings were to be presented Tuesday at the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) meeting in Chicago. Research presented at a medical meeting should be considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

“The [average] number of marijuana smoking years was less than compared to cigarette smokers and combined marijuana and cigarette smokers,” Kang said in a meeting news release. “However, marijuana that is smoked is often unfiltered, which can potentially lead to more damaging particles entering the airways and lungs.”

“More research needs to be done in this area, so the public can make an informed decision on their recreational usage of marijuana,” Kang added.

Sources

  • Radiological Society of North America, news release, Nov. 28, 2023

    • Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

    Source: HealthDay

    Posted : 2023-11-29 02:32

    Read more

    Disclaimer

    Every effort has been made to ensure that the information provided by Drugslib.com is accurate, up-to-date, and complete, but no guarantee is made to that effect. Drug information contained herein may be time sensitive. Drugslib.com information has been compiled for use by healthcare practitioners and consumers in the United States and therefore Drugslib.com does not warrant that uses outside of the United States are appropriate, unless specifically indicated otherwise. Drugslib.com's drug information does not endorse drugs, diagnose patients or recommend therapy. Drugslib.com's drug information is an informational resource designed to assist licensed healthcare practitioners in caring for their patients and/or to serve consumers viewing this service as a supplement to, and not a substitute for, the expertise, skill, knowledge and judgment of healthcare practitioners.

    The absence of a warning for a given drug or drug combination in no way should be construed to indicate that the drug or drug combination is safe, effective or appropriate for any given patient. Drugslib.com does not assume any responsibility for any aspect of healthcare administered with the aid of information Drugslib.com provides. The information contained herein is not intended to cover all possible uses, directions, precautions, warnings, drug interactions, allergic reactions, or adverse effects. If you have questions about the drugs you are taking, check with your doctor, nurse or pharmacist.

    Popular Keywords