Heart surgeon breaks down exactly what smoking weed does to your body amid warning on horrifying new side effect
Callum Jones
Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock Image
While weed may be legalized in many US states, a heart surgeon has detailed the damage smoking a joint is doing to your body.
Earlier this week, health experts detailed a condition known as cannabis hyperemesis syndrome (CHS), which can present symptoms such as abdominal pain and severe or prolonged vomiting.
Known informally as as 'scromiting' (screaming and vomiting at the same time), experts have said symptoms can last for up to 48 hours, as some suffers have reported puking up to 30 times a day.
The World Health Organization’s International Classification of Diseases has since listed CHS as a condition, though experts are still unsure what actually causes CHS. One of the main theories 'is that it may happen due to long-term overstimulation of receptors in your endocannabinoid system (ECS)', according to Cleveland Clinic.
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While you'd think smoking weed wouldn't be as harmful for you compared to other drugs, one heart surgeon has explained the dangers of the drug and the impact smoking is having on your body.
Dr. Jeremy London, MD, a heart surgeon who often provides health advice on sites such as TikTok, explained: "Let’s all agree on one thing, that lungs have one simple function and that’s to bring air into and out of your lungs. Anything else is potentially harmful."
The expert went on to say he's heard many stories of cannabis users thinking the substance is safe because it's 'natural' - but that is far from the truth.
Dr London continued: "Smoking marijuana increases your risk of coronary disease and acute heart attack by 1.3 to two times [compared] to those that don’t smoke marijuana regularly."
That's the same increased risk for high blood pressure or increased cholesterol, according to the healthcare professional.
The heart surgeon went on to detail the devastating impact smoking weed has had one some patients, as he added: "I have operated on multiple patients over the years that smoke marijuana regularly and I can tell you their lungs are totally black, and it looks like they’ve worked in a coal mine.
"They’ve got such severe blockages that I have to do bypass surgery. These are folks that have never smoked a cigarette in their lives."
These claims have been backed up by fellow experts, with one study looking into the link between heart attacks and cannabis use finding a 50 percent increased risk among those who used the drug.
Meanwhile, the American Lung Association is cautioning the public 'against smoking marijuana because of the risk of damage to the lungs'.