People who use cannabis had lower rates of severe Covid-19 infections and were less likely to experience serious outcomes such as intubation or death, according to the results of newly published research. The study, which was conducted by researchers at Northwell Health in New York, was published online last week by the peer-reviewed journal Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research.
“Cannabis users had better outcomes and mortality compared with non-users,” the authors of the study wrote. “The beneficial effect of cannabis use may be attributed to its immunomodulatory effects.”
A researcher with a microscope studies a cannabis leaf.
A newly published study shows that cannabis users had better Covid-19 outcomes compared to
To conduct the study, researchers analyzed hospital admissions data from the National Inpatient Sample Database. Patients who were admitted with a diagnosis of Covid-19 were separated into two groups of cannabis users and non-users. Patients were also matched to adjust for factors including comorbidities, age, gender and race. The research determined that cannabis users had a lower risk of death and other serious outcomes such as lung failure or the need to be put on a ventilator.
“On initial analysis, cannabis users had significantly lower rates of severe COVID-19 infection, intubation, ARDS [acute respiratory distress syndrome], acute respiratory failure, severe sepsis with multiorgan failure, mortality, and shorter length of hospital stay,” the authors of the study wrote, cannabis news source Marijuana Moment reported on Wednesday. “After 1:1 matching, cannabis use was associated with lower rates of severe COVID-19 infection, intubation, ARDS, acute respiratory failure, severe sepsis with multiorgan failure, mortality, and shorter length of hospital stay.”
The data showed that 28.2% of cannabis users experienced a serious Covid-19 infection, compared with 46.6% of non-users. The mortality rate for cannabis users was 5.1% in non-cannabis users vs. 2.8% in cannabis users, while intubation rates were 9.7% in non-cannabis users and 7.1% in cannabis users. Cannabis users also had a slightly shorter hospital stay of 6.4 days compared to 7.0 days for non-users.
H/T: www.forbes.com
