Man, 36, nearly dies after smoking four joints that triggered rare ‘sudden death’ heart syndrome

After smoking four joints, an otherwise healthy 36-year-old man nearly died of a rare heart arrhythmia, a new case report reveals. 

There has only been one death linked to weed: an infant in Colorado who ate marijuana edibles and subsequently died of heart inflammation.

Marijuana, now legal in 30 states, has been linked to a range of heart irregularities, but besides the one possible case, it has never proven fatal.

In the latest, published in the American Journal of Medical Case Reports, the man had reportedly smoked four joints over the course of  30 hours, and despite having an otherwise healthy heart, his began to beat rapidly and out of sync. 

Smoking four joints in 30 hours was enough to give one otherwise healthy 36-year-old man a rare heart arrhythmia that kills many people before they even know they have it 

Marijuana is probably more popular and more accessible than ever in the US, but scientists face a number of barriers to studying the drug, so its a cloud of questions about its health effects hang around the it. 

Recently, research has begun to shed some light on marijuana’s impact on the heart and vascular system. 

Smoking it can constrict blood vessels in much the same way that smoking cigarettes does, raising risks for high blood pressure and heart attack. 

Even in states where cannabis is legal to use medically, doctors discourage patients who already have heart problems from using it, as it puts undo stress on their struggling cardiovascular systems.

In the new case report, the doctors noted marijuana’s links to both high and low blood pressure, fainting from a block between parts of the heart, heart attacks and arrhythmia. 

When the 36-year-old black man arrived at the hospital, sharp pain was gripping his chest. Every time he took a deep breath, the pain only intensified. 

He told the emergency room staff he was feverish, nauseous and fatigued, and admitted that he had smoked four joints over the course of the last 30 hours (though it is unclear how those were spread out during that time).

The man did not himself appear to have a damaged heart, but he certainly had a family history of relatives that did.

Two of his cousins, both girls, had died of ‘premature’ cardiac problems when they were just teenagers.  

But his heart looked fine. Structurally, it was in good shape, and showed no signs of coronary artery disease. Despite complaining of feeling feverish, his temperature was normal. 

Even his heart rate was in the range of normal for a man his age, but the rhythm of his heart beat was following the Brugada pattern. 

An EKG shows the man's unusual and dangerous heart rhythms, which followed the so-called Brugada pattern that is thought to be responsible for 20 percent of cardiac-related deaths 

An EKG shows the man’s unusual and dangerous heart rhythms, which followed the so-called Brugada pattern that is thought to be responsible for 20 percent of cardiac-related deaths 

The Brugada pattern is a rare set of related cardiac symptoms stemming from irregular rhythms in the heart’s bottom chambers.

Often the syndrome is inherited and many people are unaware that that their heart isn’t beating normally. 

‘Frequently, sudden death can be the first manifestation of the disease,’ according to the National Organization of Rare Diseases. 

So, it was cause for immediate concern and curiosity for the doctors treating the man.

But after some time to calm down – and perhaps come down – the man’s heart seemed to normalize. 

When his doctors tried to use a drug that typically induces the Brugada pattern in patients who have inherited the condition, the irregularities did not come back. 

It seemed that it was just weed that had sent the man’s heart into such distress. 

Just in case his Brugada syndrome was inherited, the man’s doctors advised him that it might be worthwhile to get genetic testing. A fever is typically the tell-tale sign of the rare heart condition, so the doctors told the man to rush back to the ER if he developed one. 

But otherwise, there was nothing left to do for him, so the doctors sent the man home – and instructed him to lay off the weed.     



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