Posted on 11/15/2022 1:13:02 PM PST by Red Badger
A new study has revealed that marijuana smokers have a higher rate of emphysema and airway diseases compared to cigarette smokers.
Researchers have found marijuana smokers have a higher rate of emphysema and airway diseases compared to cigarette smokers. The findings, from the University of Ottawa and The Ottawa Hospital, will be published today (November 15) in the journal Radiology.
In the study, the chest CT examinations of 56 marijuana smokers, 57 non-smokers, and 33 tobacco-only smokers between 2005 and 2020 were analyzed. The investigators determined higher rates of paraseptal emphysema (PSE) and airway inflammatory changes, such as bronchiectasis, bronchial wall thickening, and mucoid impaction, in the marijuana smokers.
Airway Changes in Marijuana and Tobacco Smoker
Airway changes in a 66-year-old male marijuana and tobacco smoker. Contrast-enhanced (A) axial and (B) coronal CT images show cylindrical bronchiectasis and bronchial wall thickening (arrowheads) in multiple lung lobes bilaterally in a background of paraseptal (arrows) and centrilobular emphysema. Credit: Radiological Society of North America
Giselle Revah is a radiologist and Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Medicine who was searching for answers on the effect of marijuana on the lungs and its health implications. This was especially important, as there was little information available in the current literature since marijuana only became legal in Canada in 2018.
“I can tell if someone is a heavy or a long-time cigarette smoker when I look at a CT scan. With marijuana being the second most inhaled substance after tobacco, I started wondering: What does marijuana inhalation look like on a CT scan? Would I be able to tell if someone was a marijuana smoker, is it different from cigarette smoke?” says Revah, a radiologist at The Ottawa Hospital, where the research was conducted.
Pulmonary Emphysema in Marijuana and Tobacco Smokers
Pulmonary emphysema in (A, B) marijuana and (C, D) tobacco smokers. (A) Axial and (B) coronal CT images in a 44-year-old male marijuana smoker show paraseptal emphysema (arrowheads) in bilateral upper lobes. (C) Axial and (D) coronal CT images in a 66-year-old female tobacco smoker with centrilobular emphysema represented by areas of centrilobular lucency (arrowheads). Credit: Radiological Society of North America
“What’s unique about this study is that it there hasn’t been anything comparing the imaging findings in tobacco smokers to marijuana smokers before. In fact, there is a lack of imaging research in marijuana, probably because it’s still illegal in many parts of the world, and in many U.S. states, which is why I think we were the first to do a project like this.”
Despite the small sample size, Revah’s findings suggest that marijuana smokers saw additional effects on the lungs above tobacco alone, including more instances of large and small airway diseases.
“We’ve identified an association between marijuana smoking and damage to both the small and the large airways,” she said. “We still need more research before we can affect policy change. We need larger, more robust prospective studies with more patients to confirm it.”
Reference: “Chest CT Findings in Marijuana Smokers” by Luke Murtha, Paul Sathiadoss, Jean-Paul Salameh, Matthew D. F. Mcinnes and Giselle Revah, 15 November 2022, Radiology. DOI: 10.1148/radiol.212611
For the most part the same people who have pushed for banning cigarette smoking because of these health concerns are the same people who have pushed for legalizing pot smoking.
It's always smelled bad. As you get older you realize it more.
I really need to quit smoking. Killed Dad 2 years ago. He wanted me to quit.
Higher relapse rate than heroin. My dang girlfriend in college got me started.
Something remembers me that we knew this quite some time ago.
Further support for my position that medical research is running out of meaningful things to discover.
Picking your nose causes Altimeters? Really?
Lt. Col. Bill Kilgore “I love the smell of pot in the morning. Nothing in the world smells like it. That dank intense smell. It smells like money”.
Cigarette smoking is the most common cause of COPD, but there are other things that can cause it as well, such as occupational exposure to chemicals.
I live in San Francisco, and the vile weed has become so popular that if I walk down nearly any street in the city on a Sunday afternoon, there’s perhaps a 50% chance of catching a whiff of the unmistakable smell of cannabis smoke. It’s a weird sort of litmus test, as I personally think it’s one of the most disgusting, nauseating smells in the world while I have acquaintances who will say things like, “Ah, I just love the smell.” I assume that such people are current or former stoners, but perhaps their noses & brains are just wired differently. I don’t know.
I’m with you. I’ve never toted nor did cigs or cigars. I can’t stand the smell of cigarette smoke or pot, and some cigars. My father used to smoke a pipe decades ago and some of the tobaccos he used made the room smell good — for the first 15 minutes or so.
Sacrilege! False! Who funded this study? Heretics!
The way I quit smoking some 20 years ago was a staged process. I quit buying cigarettes and switched to nicotine gum. I chewed the gum for a couple of years and read an article that long term gum usage was just as bad if not worse. While on a vacation to a wilderness area I decided not bring the nicotine gum and brought regular gum instead. A few days later I kicked my nicotine habit, but not my gum chewing habit. That took 10 years or so to kick that habit..
Bad genes are the biggest cause of it... If it’s in your family, don’t smoke anything and even after that... You still may get it.
I always found it interesting that nearly all the early “environmentalists” of the 70s Earth Day movement were tobacco and/or grass smokers.
Of course I also remember a sizable cadre on FR who claimed neither were connected to health problems.
So when are the billion dollar lawsuits to begin?
So when are the billion dollar lawsuits to begin?
Dave’s not here.
I had made great progress in quitting using a vape. I was stepping down the nicotine content to zero, to ween myself off the drug.
Then, an ex-girlfriend showed up to stay a long weekend, for old times’ sake or whatever reason she had, and I thought, “What the heck, let’s just have a grand old time, who knows how long she’ll be around for?” So I smoked and drank and had the usual fun with her, and I was back to square one. I really should go back to vaping. On the other hand, Dad was right when he said he was the lucky one, and he didn’t have to hang out to see what happened to this country. Frankly, I have no incentive to keep living longer. I have nobody, and I have no country. Speaking of which, I’m off tomorrow, and I’m out of smokes. Off to the store for a carton and a bottle of wine. Emotional numbness is a gift these days.
A friend from work was a heavy marijuana smoker and died from COPD.
Have you smelled it lately? Absolutely PUTRID smell! It smells like large animal deification. Cigar smoke is aromatic compared to it.
Yes, I think our side is surrendering in various ways
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