Cardiovascular Health And CBD
Can CBD oil help heart disease? The human studies are too small to say, so it is no substitute for heart care. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, and CDC reports that 919,032 people died from cardiovascular disease in 2023. NHLBI’s heart-healthy steps include heart-healthy eating, regular physical activity and quitting smoking, and those steps matter because heart damage is hard to reverse. Many diseases can affect the heart, and heart medicines should be taken as prescribed and reviewed regularly with your doctor.
Researchers have studied CBD’s effects on blood pressure and inflammation, but the human data are tiny, and CBD is not an approved heart medicine.
What Is Heart Disease?
Coronary heart disease is the most common type of heart disease, CDC says, and it is linked to atherosclerosis, a buildup of plaque that hardens and narrows the arteries. In this disease, damage to the arteries causes them to become less elastic and puts extra pressure on the heart over time. Furthermore, it allows cholesterol to build up on the artery walls, narrowing the passages and raising blood pressure.
When the heart doesn’t receive enough blood, there isn’t enough oxygen reaching it. When there isn’t enough oxygen, the cells in the heart start to die off. Furthermore, in those crucial moments when the heart starts to fail, oxygenated blood may not reach other parts of the body, causing damage elsewhere.
Blood flow also matters for clotting. In an ischemic stroke, a blood clot blocks the blood vessels to the brain, and atrial fibrillation, a heart rhythm problem, raises stroke risk. That is why people with AFib and some other heart conditions take blood thinners to prevent clots.
NHLBI notes that risk factors for coronary heart disease begin in childhood, and treatment may include lifelong heart-healthy changes. That’s why early detection and ongoing treatment are so important. Studies of CBD and heart disease are small or done in animals, so they cannot show whether CBD helps people with heart disease.
CBD Oil and Heart Disease: What Studies Show
CBD and High Blood Pressure
Cannabis can make the heart beat faster and raise blood pressure immediately after use, CDC warns. CBD alone has been tested on blood pressure only in very small studies, not as a treatment.
In a 2017 randomized crossover study, 9 healthy male volunteers were given a single 600 mg dose of CBD or a placebo. The volunteers then had their resting blood pressure measured as well as after exercise and cold stress. CBD lowered systolic pressure by 5 to 6 points across those tests, though it also increased heart rate. This was one dose in 9 healthy men, so it says nothing about replacing heart medicines such as metoprolol; never stop a heart drug without your doctor.
CBD and Inflammation
Researchers think some of CBD’s possible beneficial effects may come from lowering inflammation, though this is unproven in people. NHLBI lists a lot of stress at work among coronary heart disease risk factors, and notes that long-term inflammation may be one cause of damage to the walls of the heart’s arteries and tiny blood vessels. NHLBI’s atherosclerosis page adds that high levels of inflammation, as in rheumatoid arthritis or psoriasis, can injure blood vessels and lead to plaque buildup that narrows the arteries. That’s why some researchers have investigated CBD’s effect on the inflammation response.
In animal studies, one study measured the effects of CBD on oxidative stress in mice that were diabetic. Oxidative stress is a marker of inflammation and heart disease. In a 2010 study in diabetic mice, those given CBD had less oxidative stress, cell death and fibrosis in the heart. We found no study confirming these results in people.
CBD and Arrhythmia in Animal Studies
There is also early animal evidence on CBD and arrhythmia, but we found no studies in heart patients. An arrhythmia is when your heart beats incorrectly, whether too fast, slow, or at the wrong rhythm. In a 2010 rat study, CBD given before a blocked coronary artery reduced arrhythmias and the size of the heart damage.
Heart and blood vessel diseases, including a past heart attack, make arrhythmias more likely, NHLBI says. CBD is not a first treatment for heart symptoms: if you think you are having a heart attack, call 911, and FDA lists liver injury and drug interactions among CBD’s risks. Any new heart symptom needs prompt medical care, because quick treatment can limit damage to the heart muscle.
These early results come from tiny or animal studies, and no CBD product is approved to replace any heart medicine. Meanwhile, a 2024 cross-sectional study of 434,104 U.S. adults linked daily cannabis use with higher odds of heart attack and stroke. If you have high blood pressure or a history of heart disease, tell your doctor before using CBD, since it can change how other medicines work. Larger human trials are needed before anyone can say whether CBD helps or harms the heart.
It’s always wise to ask your own doctor which treatment fits your heart condition. Heart disease is not a listed condition in Florida’s law, and Dr. Green Relief can explain what the law does cover.
