Everyone knows how detrimental cigarette smoking can be to one’s health but when the risks are heightened when tobacco is smoked with marijuana. According to a new study that was published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ), “the risk of respiratory symptoms and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) increases when smoking both tobacco and marijuana.” The said risks where not only linked to marijuana use.

The study used an older population with the incidence of smoking tobacco lower in more than eight hundred participants from Vancouver. Subjects were aged 40 years and older. The said research was conducted as a part of the Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease (BOLD) Initiative which was created to determine the incidence of COPD in the age group.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is characterized by narrowed airways and deteriorating lungs. The condition is currently linked to high death rates.

The authors of the study defined smokers as those who have reportedly smoked more than 365 cigarettes in their lifetime as well as people who have only smoked marijuana.

Tobacco smoking was identified as a risk factor for COPD. Moreover, individuals who smoked both marijuana and tobacco had a higher risk of developing respiratory conditions. The risk for COPD was three times higher as per the spirometric testing used in the study.

“We were able to detect a significant synergistic effect between marijuana smoking and tobacco smoking,” says study author Dr. Wan Tan of the University of British Columbia and the St. Paul’s Hospital. “This effect suggests that smoking marijuana (at least in relatively low doses) may act as a primer, or sensitizer, in the airways to amplify the adverse effects of tobacco on respiratory health.”

However, the research was only limited to the available information regarding differences in marijuana strength as well as in the variety of intake methods and on how many individuals mix cannabis and tobacco in the same cigarette.

Dr. Donald Tashkin of the University of California – Los Angeles said that the study’s findings contribute to the evidence that links marijuana use to COPD as Tan and his colleagues focused on the older age group. Old age has been identified as a risk factor for COPD before.

Previous studies have been unable to identify the additive effect of tobacco and marijuana on chronic respiratory conditions among young smokers. “We can be close to concluding that marijuana smoking by itself does not lead to COPD,” Tashkin says.

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Taking three units of alcohol daily can increase the probability of developing essential involuntary tremor by two times. This is according to a study that was published in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.

Essential tremor is a neurological disorder that affects about 650,000 people in the United Kingdom and more than five million in the United States. The disorder is common in people aged 60 and older. What causes it is still unknown but experts believe it may result from the damage of certain brain cells that led to the disruption of signal transmission between the synapses.

This current study based its findings on assessments of neurological symptoms and lifetime alcohol intake in more than 3,000 respondents aged at least 65 years old. All the subjects were participants in a population survey concerning age-related conditions conducted in Central Spain. More than half of the respondents reported regular alcohol intake.

The first assessments were conducted between 1994 and 1995 and the second one three years later. 76 of the subjects were diagnosed with essential tremor. Those who were diagnosed with the disorder appeared to drink longer and more regularly than those who have not developed the tremor yet.

After considering other factors – i.e. lifetime cigarette smoking and the presence of depression – that may influence the study’s findings, the research team found that “those who drank at least three units a day more than doubled their risk of essential tremor.”

The risk is increased by 23% for every year of regular daily drinking added. This applied even to individuals who reportedly drank less than three units but still consumed alcohol on a regular basis. The increased risk is still apparent although not to the same extent as those who took in an average of three units.

Alcohol is considered a brain toxin that affects the cerebellum in particular. This part of the brain has been linked to the development of involuntary tremors. Interestingly, the substance has also been frequently used to relieve symptoms of diagnosed essential tremor. The new study found that increased alcohol intake may even aggravate the progression of the disorder rather than treat it.

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