Should doctors be especially careful when talking to patients about the potential dangers of COVID-19 if those patients have a troubled relationship with marijuana?
Smoking: risk factor
New research from Washington University in St. Louis suggests that maybe they should.
Diabetes, obesity, and a history of smoking are considered risk factors for worse COVID-19 outcomes. The warnings and personalized information are directed at people with these conditions. And doctors are well aware of the high risks they pose.
ABOUT THE STUDY: Cannabis Use Disorder and COVID-19
Findings from the laboratory of Ryan Bogdan, associate professor in the Department of Psychology and Brain Sciences in Arts and Sciences. They suggest that cannabis use disorder (CUD) should be added to the list. Because the genetic predisposition to CUD is overrepresented in people with low levels of COVID-19.
The research is in press in the journal Biological Psychiatry: Global Open Access.
Cannabis use and COVID-19
“As sociocultural attitudes and laws surrounding cannabis use become increasingly permissive and COVID-19 continues to spread. We must better understand how cannabis use, as well as intense and problematic forms of consumption. They are associated with COVID results, ”Bogdan said.
First author Alexander S. Hatoum, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Washington School of Medicine. He used genetic epidemiological models to determine that genetic predisposition to CUD is related to the risk of a severe reaction to COVID-19 (i.e., being hospitalized with COVID-19).
Problematic and excessive cannabis use
Hatoum combined existing data sets to test whether having an increased genetic risk for cannabis use disorder correlated with the risk of hospitalization from COVID. One data set involved 357,806 people, including 14,080 with CUD.
The other involved 1,206,629 people, including 9,373 who were hospitalized with COVID. He also analyzed 7 million genetic variants to assess the association between CUD and severe COVID.
* Having genetic variants does not mean that a person has CUD or that they have used cannabis.
By comparing people with the variants to their COVID results. The researchers found that genetic responsibility for CUD accounted for up to 40% of genetically influenced risk factors. Such as body mass index (BMI) and diabetes, for a severe presentation of COVID-19.
This association suggested that excessive and problematic cannabis use may represent a modifiable pathway to minimize severe COVID-19 presentations.
RESULTS:
The results of this study point to two possible outcomes: That a predisposition to CUD and severe COVID-19 are due to a common biological mechanism. As inflammatory conditions that cause individuals to develop worse symptoms of COVID-19 and / or cannabis dependence; or that they are associated due to a causal process.
“If we know the genes that predispose people to cannabis use disorder. And if cannabis use disorder is a risk factor for hospitalization for COVID-19. You will see the genes that influence cannabis use disorder as predictors of severe COVID-19 cases, ”said Hatoum.
“We found that a person’s genetic risk for cannabis use disorder correlates with their risk for COVID-19. Without having to ask directly about the consumption of illegal substances ”.
“This information must be incorporated into any strategy to defeat this disease,” Hatoum said.
These data suggest that heavy cannabis users may have a more adverse reaction to COVID-19 and that, like quitting tobacco smoking or lowering BMI, reducing and / or stopping excess cannabis use can protect against severe reactions of COVID-19.
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