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Dr. Andrew Rynne
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Dr. Andrew Rynne

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Exp 50 years

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Murmur In Heart,hole In Heart,is Smoking Weed Harmful?

Hi I have heart murmur so my questions is would it be bad to smoke weed then? Also is a heart murmur bad because I was born with it and I have a whole in my heart?
Thu, 24 May 2012
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Cardiologist 's  Response
Hi Lupita,

You have congenital heart disease, I assume the hole in heart did not require surgery or device closure. I also assume that you are a adolescent. Well, that narrows the possibility of hole in the heart to a small ventricular septal defect. If you take drugs through i/v you have greater risk getting your heart infected. Thereafter it is downhill course so please do not progress from smoking marijuana to taking drugs intra venously.

If the above assumption of small ventricular septal defect is correct there are no catastrophic effects in young age, nonetheless, taking drug as cocktail with alcohol or taking too much of it neutralizes the benefit of young age and you still can have following:
Marijuana increases heart rate by 20-100 percent shortly after smoking; this effect can last up to 3 hours. In one study, it was estimated that marijuana users have a 4.8-fold increase in the risk of heart attack in the first hour after smoking the drug. This may be due to increased heart rate as well as the effects of marijuana on heart rhythms, causing palpitations and arrhythmias. This risk may be greater in aging populations or in those with cardiac vulnerabilities.

I hope I have answered a rather brief question in detail.

Best Wishes.

Dr Anil Grover
Cardiologist
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Murmur In Heart,hole In Heart,is Smoking Weed Harmful?

Hi Lupita, You have congenital heart disease, I assume the hole in heart did not require surgery or device closure. I also assume that you are a adolescent. Well, that narrows the possibility of hole in the heart to a small ventricular septal defect. If you take drugs through i/v you have greater risk getting your heart infected. Thereafter it is downhill course so please do not progress from smoking marijuana to taking drugs intra venously. If the above assumption of small ventricular septal defect is correct there are no catastrophic effects in young age, nonetheless, taking drug as cocktail with alcohol or taking too much of it neutralizes the benefit of young age and you still can have following: Marijuana increases heart rate by 20-100 percent shortly after smoking; this effect can last up to 3 hours. In one study, it was estimated that marijuana users have a 4.8-fold increase in the risk of heart attack in the first hour after smoking the drug. This may be due to increased heart rate as well as the effects of marijuana on heart rhythms, causing palpitations and arrhythmias. This risk may be greater in aging populations or in those with cardiac vulnerabilities. I hope I have answered a rather brief question in detail. Best Wishes. Dr Anil Grover Cardiologist