this post was submitted on 09 Mar 2026
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Medical data from 100m people shows risk 122% higher for amphetamine users, 96% higher for cocaine and 37% higher for cannabis

Recreational drugs can more than double the risk of stroke, with some of the most concerning impacts seen among younger people, a major review suggests.

Scientists analysed medical data from more than 100 million people and found that the risk of stroke was 122% higher for amphetamine users and 96% higher for cocaine users compared with those who did not take the drugs.

Cannabis users were also at greater risk, suffering 37% more strokes than non-users, the review found, though researchers saw no evidence that opioids, a highly addictive painkiller, added to a person’s risk of stroke.

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[–] yoreel@lemmy.zip 17 points 6 months ago (1 children)

amphetamines would include ADHD medications, wouldn't it? that's unfortunate

[–] MalReynolds@slrpnk.net 5 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Likely ~~mediated~~ mitigated by low dosage and tolerance for ADHD medication. Recreational use tends to be larger dosages more infrequently. From the paper "based on self-report, clinical diagnosis, or toxicology testing, depending on the study. When referring to this analysis, “use” refers to consumption regardless of severity or frequency." so it's unclear if medication is even in this study.

Prudent to keep an eye on blood pressure and keep up with cardio though.

[–] mrmaplebar@fedia.io 15 points 6 months ago

Cannabis users

I'm always slightly skeptical when articles talk about "cannabis users" without differentiating between smokers and other kinds of users.

Certainly cannabis has an effect on your blood pressure in all circumstances, but it seems to me that consumption differences between eating and smoking cannabis (like smoking anything) would have significant implications on the quality of this kind of study.

[–] Triumph@fedia.io 11 points 6 months ago (2 children)

All of them? Nicotine, caffeine, alcohol, energy drinks, too?

[–] Techlos@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Opiates had evidence of reducing the risk, so I guess the lesson is have speedballs if you want speed

[–] MalReynolds@slrpnk.net 7 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

No effect found for nicotine, alcohol "linked to large artery and cardioembolic stroke". Caffeine not mentioned.

[–] Photonic@lemmy.world 4 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

Cardioembolic strokes are cerebral too. The “cardio” part refers to the source of the thrombus, not the destination.

[–] MalReynolds@slrpnk.net 1 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

Ah, my bad, thanks, will correct. Just to clarify, a blood clot elsewhere in the body is a thrombosis? ischemic event ((guessing that's what it causes)? but in the brain it's a stroke?

ETA: As per Mirriam-Webster

ischaemia : deficient supply of blood to a body part (as the heart or brain) that is due to obstruction of the inflow of arterial blood.

thrombosis : the formation or presence of a blood clot (thrombus) within a blood vessel.

As per W.H.O.

A stroke is a medical emergency that occurs when blood flow to the brain is interrupted, either due to a blockage (ischemic) or bleeding (haemorrhagic).

[–] Photonic@lemmy.world 2 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Thrombosis is generally used for the formation of a blood clot (thrombus) in a vein. However, not all thrombi are formed inside veins, as in the case of cardiac thrombi.

Embolism is when a thrombus dislodges from its place and occludes a blood vessel somewhere else. If it originates from a vein it usually ends up in the lung vasculature – pulmonary embolism.

Cardiac thrombo-embolism usually ends up in the brain – ischaemic stroke.

A plaque is a build-up of atheroma (gunk) on the wall of an artery. If that happens in the carotid artery part of that plaque may dislodge and end up in the brain, causing ischaemic stroke.

Ischaemic strokes are very rarely caused by embolism of thrombosis (thrombo-embolism from the veins), in which case it is often referred to as a paradoxical embolism.

Man drugs cause me to have a stroke 100 percent of time. Sometimes I have two in a row other times just a snack.

[–] JigglySackles@lemmy.world 3 points 6 months ago

It's bullshit. The correlation couldn't be tied to drugs specifically vs some other contributing factors such as general poor health, or poor diet, etc.

[–] Nurse_Robot@lemmy.world 1 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Why is amphetamine separate from cocaine

[–] gramie@lemmy.ca 13 points 6 months ago

Maybe because, while they are both stimulants, they are chemically extremely different.