Study shows that cannabis use lowers hospital mortality rate in COPD patients

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Long-term cannabis use could have a positive effect on COPD

It has long been thought that marijuana could have many consequences on the lungs of people who use it. However, according to data published in the Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research, this is not the reality. People suffering from COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) with a history of marijuana use are reportedly less likely to suffer from pneumonia or die during hospitalization than patients who have never used the plant. Although COPD is considered the fourth leading cause of death in the US, it appears that marijuana does not influence the statistic as such.

Several researchers affiliated with the Universities of Nevada, Arkansas and Yale, undertook the task of analyzing the hospitalization trends in a little more than six million patients suffering from this pathology, whether or not they have any intention of consuming cannabis. According to the results shown by the researchers, it was reported that COPD patients whose history was related to cannabis consumption tended to show lower hospital mortality, a lower risk of pneumonia, and even shorter periods of hospitalization. In contrast, the rest of the patients without consumption of the plant, showed the opposite.

They concluded: “The results of our study showed that over a 10-year period, cannabis use was increasingly frequent in patients hospitalized for COPD. Among hospitalized patients with a diagnosis of COPD, cannabis users had statistically significant lower odds of hospital mortality and pneumonia compared with non-cannabis users.”

It has been made clear that, in order to clarify the factors that are related to these observations, further studies are required. However, for the time being, it appears that marijuana does not negatively influence this disease, something that certainly does happen with nicotine, for example.