A brand-new research study has revealed that marijuana cigarette smokers have a greater rate of emphysema and airway illness compared to cigarette smokers.
Scientists have actually discovered cannabis cigarette smokers have a greater rate of emphysema and airway illness compared to cigarette smokers. The findings, from the University of Ottawa and The Ottawa Hospital, will be published today (November 15) in the journal Radiology.
In the study, the chest CT examinations of 56 cannabis smokers, 57 non-smokers, and 33 tobacco-only cigarette smokers in between 2005 and 2020 were evaluated. The investigators determined higher rates of paraseptal emphysema (PSE) and airway inflammatory changes, such as bronchiectasis, bronchial wall thickening, and mucoid impaction, in the cannabis cigarette smokers.
Airway changes in a 66-year-old male marijuana and tobacco cigarette smoker. Contrast-enhanced (A) axial and (B) coronal CT images show round bronchiectasis and bronchial wall thickening (arrowheads) in numerous lung lobes bilaterally in a background of paraseptal (arrows) and centrilobular emphysema. Credit: Radiological Society of North America
Giselle Revah is a radiologist and Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Medicine who was searching for responses on the result of marijuana on the lungs and its health implications. This was specifically important, as there was little information offered in the current literature considering that cannabis only ended up being legal in Canada in 2018.
Air passage modifications in a 66-year-old male marijuana and tobacco smoker. Lung emphysema in (A, B) marijuana and (C, D) tobacco smokers. (A) Axial and (B) coronal CT images in a 44-year-old male marijuana cigarette smoker reveal paraseptal emphysema (arrowheads) in bilateral upper lobes. (C) Axial and (D) coronal CT images in a 66-year-old female tobacco smoker with centrilobular emphysema represented by areas of centrilobular lucency (arrowheads).
” I can inform if somebody is a heavy or a veteran cigarette smoker when I look at a CT scan. With cannabis being the 2nd most inhaled compound after tobacco, I started questioning: What does marijuana inhalation look like on a CT scan?
Pulmonary emphysema in (A, B) marijuana and (C, D) tobacco smokers. (A) Axial and (B) coronal CT images in a 44-year-old male marijuana smoker reveal paraseptal emphysema (arrowheads) in bilateral upper lobes. (C) Axial and (D) coronal CT images in a 66-year-old female tobacco cigarette smoker with centrilobular emphysema represented by areas of centrilobular lucency (arrowheads). Credit: Radiological Society of North America
” Whats special about this research study is that it there hasnt been anything comparing the imaging findings in tobacco cigarette smokers to marijuana cigarette smokers prior to. In reality, there is an absence of imaging research study in cannabis, probably since its still illegal in numerous parts of the world, and in numerous U.S. states, which is why I believe we were the very first to do a task like this.”
In spite of the small sample size, Revahs findings recommend that cannabis smokers saw additional results on the lungs above tobacco alone, including more instances of big and small airway diseases.
” Weve determined an association between cannabis smoking cigarettes and damage to both the small and the big air passages,” she stated. “We still require more research prior to we can affect policy modification. We require bigger, more robust prospective studies with more clients to confirm it.”
Reference: “Chest CT Findings in Marijuana Smokers” by Luke Murtha, Paul Sathiadoss, Jean-Paul Salameh, Matthew D. F. Mcinnes and Giselle Revah, 15 November 2022, Radiology.DOI: 10.1148/ radiol.212611.