In a long-term study of more than 23 million people, the risk of atrial fibrillation, a form of cardiac arrhythmia, was significantly increased in drug users. This was true for all illicit drugs studied, regardless of other risk factors such as age, obesity, smoking, heart disease and diabetes.
Of the more than 23 million study participants, 98,271 used methamphetamine (crystal meth), 48,700 cocaine, 10,032 opiates and 132,834 cannabis. A total of 998,747 people developed atrial fibrillation within eleven years. Those who used methamphetamine were 86 percent more likely to have this condition. The risk was 74 percent higher with opiates, 61 percent higher with cocaine, and 35 percent higher with cannabis.
People who used two or more illicit drugs were 63 percent more likely to develop atrial fibrillation. Drug-addicted participants had a similarly high risk as people who used drugs irregularly.
University of California Professor Gregory Marcus said: “This was the first large longitudinal study to examine the association between methamphetamines, cocaine, opiates, cannabis and atrial fibrillation. Although the association was weakest for cannabis, use was still associated with a higher likelihood of recurrence of atrial fibrillation than known risk factors such as dyslipidemia and diabetes, which increased the risk by 26 and 24 percent, respectively.”
Atrial fibrillation is the most common form of cardiac arrhythmia. Symptoms include palpitations, shortness of breath, fatigue and trouble sleeping. Atrial fibrillation can significantly impair quality of life and increases the risk of stroke five-fold.
The study was published in the European Heart Journal, a journal of the European Society of Cardiology.
Source: DOI 10.1093/eurheartj/ehac558