According to the latest report from Washington University in St. Louis, they must. Should physicians take extra precautions to inform individuals about the possible hazards of COVID-19 if they have a history of marijuana abuse?
Since the hereditary tendency to CUD is underrepresented among patients with bad COVID-19 results, results from the laboratory of Ryan Bogdan, associate professor at the University of Psychology & Brain Sciences in Arts & Sciences, indicate that marijuana use disorders must be included in the listing. To ascertain if there is a causal connection further research is required.
Marijuana Use Disorder Is A COVID Risk
Among the risks of COVID the use of Marijuana is considered as a big threat to the users as it has affected the immune systems of millions of users across the nation. The research team has checked the data of marijuana users from a variety of areas and different age groups. The sample data include males and females from various levels. Marijuana holds a number of elements that affect the immune system of the users and lead to a huge risk of infection.
Hypertension, overweight, and background cigarette smoking were all possible causes for unsatisfactory COVID-19 results. Individuals with such illnesses receive special cautions and data, and clinicians are well informed of the increased dangers they entail.
“We need to better understand how cannabis use, including heavy and problematic types of use, is connected with COVID results as sociocultural attitudes and legislation around cannabis use become increasingly permissive, and COVID-19 continues to expand,” Bogdan added.
Hatoum analyzed current information to see if having a greater gene mutation for marijuana consumption disorders was linked to the likelihood of COVID hospitalization. The group of information included 357,806 individuals, 14,080 of whom had CUD, while the other included 1,206,629 folks, 9,373 of whom had COVID and are hospitalized. He also examined 7 million gene changes to see if CUD and serious COVID were linked.
Alexander S. Hatoum, a postdoctoral scientist at Washington University School of Medicine, utilized molecular epidemiology simulations to show that a hereditary susceptibility to CUD is linked to the chance of a serious response to COVID-19.
It is not necessary to have hereditary variations to have CUD or to have consumed marijuana.
The findings suggest one of 2 possibilities: that a propensity to CUD and significant COVID-19 are linked by the same genetic cause, such as inflammation circumstances leading people to acquire greater COVID-19 symptoms and/or cannabis dependency; or they’re linked by a causative mechanism.
“If we know the genes that predispose individuals to cannabis use disorder, and if cannabis use disorder is a risk factor for COVID-19 hospitalization, you will see the genes influencing cannabis use disorder as predictors of severe COVID-19 cases,” Hatoum said. “We found that a person’s genetic risk for cannabis use disorder is correlated with their risk for COVID-19, without having to ask directly about illegal substance use.”
COVID-19 intensity had familial connections that were comparable in magnitude to COVID-19 harshness and BMI, a well-increased risk for serious COVID-19 appearances.
“That the genetic relationship between CUD and COVID-19 is independent of these factors raises the intriguing possibility that heavy and problematic cannabis use may contribute to severe COVID-19 presentations. As such, it is possible that combating heavy and problematic cannabis use may help mitigate the impact of COVID-19,” Hatoum said.
“This information needs to be incorporated into any strategy to defeat this disease,” Hatoum said.
These findings imply that strong marijuana consumers will have a more negative response to COVID-19 and that decreasing and/or ending frequent marijuana usage, similar to quit tobacco or lowering BMI, may guard against serious COVID-19 responses.
