scholarly journals The Impact of Marijuana on the Cardiovascular System: A Review of the Most Common Cardiovascular Events Associated with Marijuana Use

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 1925 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zara Latif ◽  
Nadish Garg

With the expanded legalization of marijuana, its medical and recreational use have sharply increased over the past decade. A wide array of new forms of cannabis is available on the market today, and the potencies are ten times those of forms previously tested, meaning that the true impact of marijuana on the cardiovascular system remains unclear. Cannabis mainly exerts its effects via the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, with different doses affecting different cannabinoids receptors. Studies have shown that marijuana plays a role in thrombosis, inflammation, and atherosclerosis. Case reports have linked marijuana use to myocardial infarction, cardiac arrythmias, cardiomyopathies, stroke, and arteritis. Most patients are young, healthy men with no cardiovascular risk factors; however, the patient population is expected to change to include older individuals in the future. The widespread public perception of safety accompanying marijuana use has contributed to its increased use among the elderly, who are the most at risk population for acute cardiovascular events. In this review, we aim to provide a basic understanding of the physiological effects of marijuana on the cardiovascular system and to review the current literature regarding cardiovascular diseases linked to marijuana use in adults.

Author(s):  
Maria A. Sullivan

Addiction in older adults very often goes unrecognized, for several reasons: social biases about the elderly, age-related metabolic changes, and the inappropriate use of prescription benzodiazepines and opioids to address untreated anxiety and mood conditions. Alcohol or substance-use disorders (SUDs) in older individuals may present in subtle and atypical ways. Strategies to overcome such difficulties include systematic screening using validated instruments, patient education regarding the impact of psychoactive substances on health, and cautious prescribing practices. Relying on standard DSM criteria may result in a failure to detect an SUD that presents with cognitive symptoms or physical injury, as well as the absence of work or social consequences. Older individuals can benefit from the application of risk-stratification measures, and they can be referred, e.g., to age-appropriate group therapy and non-confrontational individual therapy focusing on late-life issues of loss and sources of social support, as well as be offered medication management for alcohol or substance use disorder. Although research has been limited in this population, treatment outcomes have been found to be superior in older adults than younger adults.


2008 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 133-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Paul Cherniack, MD

Objective: To review and draw conclusions about the impact of natural disasters on the elderly from the published medical literature.Design: Articles were obtained by searching the PubMed database and Google search engines using terms such as “disaster,” “elderly,” “hurricane,” “tornado,” “earthquake,” and “flood.” More articles were obtained from the reference lists of those obtained in the initial search.Results: Forty-five journal articles were reviewed.Conclusions: Many, but not all, studies have found that older individuals are more likely to suffer adverse physical consequences. This is not surprising considering the elderly are more likely to be in worse health before disasters and less able to seek assistance afterward. The lack of agreement between studies is not surprising either, considering heterogeneity in disasters, populations, and survey methods. This heterogeneity also precludes determination as to whether older individuals have a worse or more favorable psychological outcome than younger individuals. Several investigations, however, have noted that individuals may be more resilient to some of the psychological manifestations of disasters with more frequent exposure, often including the elderly. Many suggestions have been proposed to address the potential needs of older individuals such as involving existing organizations and those with existing geriatric expertise to design disaster plans, develop education, communication systems, and warnings for people with sensory impairment, create new methods for identifying, tracking, and following older individuals, and make special arrangements to provide disaster-related aid. However, there are only anecdotal reports of the success of the application of such methods.


2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 197-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ajit Kumar Sah ◽  
Rajesh Kumar Jha ◽  
Phoolgen Sah ◽  
Sangharshila Basnet

Background & Objectives: Older individuals often suffer from multiple systemic diseases and are particularly more vulnerable to potentially inappropriate medicine prescribing. Inappropriate medication can cause serious medical problem for the elderly. The study was conducted with objectives to determine the prevalence of potentially inappropriate medicine (PIM) prescribing in older Nepalese patients in a medicine outpatient department.Materials & Methods: A prospective observational analysis of drugs prescribed in medicine out-patient department (OPD) of a tertiary hospital of central Nepal was conducted during November 2012 to October 2013 among 869 older adults aged 65 years and above. The use of potentially inappropriate medications (PIM) in elderly patients was analysed using Beer’s Criteria updated to 2013. Results: In the 869 patients included, the average number of drugs prescribed per prescription was 5.56. The most commonly used drugs were atenolol (24.3%), amlodipine (23.16%), paracetamol (17.6%), salbutamol (15.72%) and vitamin B complex (13.26%). The total number of medications prescribed was 4833. At least one instance of PIM was experienced by approximately 26.3% of patients when evaluated using the Beers criteria. Conclusion: Potentially inappropriate medications are highly prevalent among older patients attending medical OPD and are associated with number of medications prescribed. Further research is warranted to study the impact of PIMs towards health related outcomes in these elderly.


1997 ◽  
Vol 77 (03) ◽  
pp. 504-509 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah L Booth ◽  
Jacqueline M Charnley ◽  
James A Sadowski ◽  
Edward Saltzman ◽  
Edwin G Bovill ◽  
...  

SummaryCase reports cited in Medline or Biological Abstracts (1966-1996) were reviewed to evaluate the impact of vitamin K1 dietary intake on the stability of anticoagulant control in patients using coumarin derivatives. Reported nutrient-drug interactions cannot always be explained by the vitamin K1 content of the food items. However, metabolic data indicate that a consistent dietary intake of vitamin K is important to attain a daily equilibrium in vitamin K status. We report a diet that provides a stable intake of vitamin K1, equivalent to the current U.S. Recommended Dietary Allowance, using food composition data derived from high-performance liquid chromatography. Inconsistencies in the published literature indicate that prospective clinical studies should be undertaken to clarify the putative dietary vitamin K1-coumarin interaction. The dietary guidelines reported here may be used in such studies.


2006 ◽  
Vol 44 (05) ◽  
Author(s):  
Z Czeglédi ◽  
K Rábai ◽  
T Szamosi ◽  
B Nádas ◽  
J Banai

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 159-168
Author(s):  
Bayram Unal

This study aims at understanding how the perceptions about migrants have been created and transferred into daily life as a stigmatization by means of public perception, media and state law implementations.  The focus would be briefly what kind of consequences these perceptions and stigmatization might lead. First section will examine the background of migration to Turkey briefly and make a summary of migration towards Turkey by 90s. Second section will briefly evaluate the preferential legal framework, which constitutes the base for official discourse differentiating the migrants and implementations of security forces that can be described as discriminatory. The third section deals with the impact of perceptions influential in both formation and reproduction of inclusive and exclusive practices towards migrant women. Additionally, impact of public perception in classifying the migrants and migratory processes would be dealt in this section.


2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 221-228
Author(s):  
Piotr Czarnecki ◽  
◽  
Justyna Podgórska-Bednarz ◽  
Lidia Perenc ◽  
◽  
...  

Introduction. Physical activity is known to be an important factor influencing health throughout human life. This issue has become crucial for public health due to the aging of the population in both developed and developing countries. Aim. is to present a literature review on the forms of physical activity undertaken by the elderly, as well as on issues related to physical activity and the population aging. Material and methods. The study was prepared on the basis of a review of Polish and foreign literature. The following databases and data sources were used: EBSCO, ScienceDirect and Google Scholar. An additional source of data were the websites of the Central Statistical Office. Strictly defined key phrases were used during the collection of literature. The work has been divided into thematic subsections on the aging of the society, the impact of physical activity on health and the main topic, i.e. forms of physical activity selected by the elderly. Analysis of the literature. The number of elderly people in Polish society has increased by almost 3.7 million over three decades. Therefore, an important topic is prophylaxis aimed at increasing the number of days in good health, largely covering the broadly understood activation of the elderly. The available data indicate that only 12% of elderly people undertake physical activity once a week. The most common form of spending free time actively is walking (as many as 73% of people in this population declare this form of physical activity in one of the presented studies). Conclusion. Organized forms of physical activity are undertaken much less frequently by the analyzed age group mainly due to financial limitations and limited availability of sports infrastructure.


2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Amirul Amin Ismail ◽  
Ismail Samsuddin ◽  
Azman Zainonabidin ◽  
Harlina Mohd Ali

By the year 2030, Malaysian population will experience the after effects of the rapid growth of ageing society. This paper investigates the impact of seamless integration of horticultural activity in the new residential typology of retirement community. It is believed that horticultural therapy is not only beneficial for physical and psychological but also promotes socialisation opportunities among the elderly. Comparative analysis method on selected precedent studies has been carried out and analysed in accordance with Malaysian context. Initial findings indicate that a retirement community with horticultural activity gives therapy for healthier well-being. This therapeutic activity can be apositive change in elderly lifestyle and essential towards the establishment of retirement community in Malaysia. 


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 43-50
Author(s):  
Firstyono Miftahul Aziz ◽  
Suratini Suratini

For some people, dementia is considered as a disease that is common in elderly, regardless the impact of dementia. Taking care for the elderly with dementia brings stress for the family. It can cause and increase the family burden. Brain vitalization gymnastics is one of the methods to improve memory. The study aims to investigate the effect of brain vitalization activity on dementia incidence in elderly at Budi Luhur Nursing Home of Yogyakarta. The study used Quasi Experimental with Pretest-Posttest control group and randomized sampling system. The samples were taken randomly as many as 26 respondents and were divided into two groups namely 13 respondents of experimental group and 13 respondents of control group. The statistical test used Wilcoxon Match Pairs Test. The result showed that Wilcoxon Match pairs test obtained p value 0,003, which is smaller than 0,005. There is an effect of brain vitalization activity on dementia incidence in elderly at Budi Luhur Nursing Home of Yogyakarta


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