Volume 113, Issue 4 pp. 689-698
Research Report

Self-reported marijuana use over 25 years and abdominal adiposity: the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) Study

Michael P. Bancks

Corresponding Author

Michael P. Bancks

Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA

Correspondence to: Mike Bancks, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Department of Preventive Medicine, 680 N Lake Shore Drive, Suite 1400, Chicago, IL 60611, USA. E-mail: [email protected]Search for more papers by this author
Reto Auer

Reto Auer

Institute of Primary Health Care (BIHAM), University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland

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J. Jeffrey Carr

J. Jeffrey Carr

Department of Radiology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, USA

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David C. Goff Jr.

David C. Goff Jr.

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA

This work was completed while DC Goff was at the Colorado School of Public Health. The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; National Institutes of Health; or the United States Department of Health and Human Services.Search for more papers by this author
Catarina Kiefe

Catarina Kiefe

University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA

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Jamal S. Rana

Jamal S. Rana

Kaiser Permanente Division of Cardiology, Oakland, CA, USA

Department of Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA

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Jared Reis

Jared Reis

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA

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Stephen Sidney

Stephen Sidney

Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente Northern California, Oakland, CA, USA

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James G. Terry

James G. Terry

Department of Radiology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, USA

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Pamela J. Schreiner

Pamela J. Schreiner

University of Minnesota, School of Public Health, Minneapolis, MN, USA

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First published: 11 November 2017
Citations: 10

Abstract

Aims

We investigated the association between cumulative lifetime and current marijuana use with total abdominal adipose tissue (AT), visceral AT, subcutaneous AT, intermuscular AT, and mean liver attenuation (LA) at mid-life.

Design

Longitudinal and cross-sectional secondary data analysis of participants in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) Study.

Setting

CARDIA field centers in Birmingham, AL; Chicago, IL; Minneapolis, MN; and Oakland, CA, USA.

Participants

CARDIA participants, aged 18–30 years in 1985–1986, who were present at the clinic examination in 2010–2011 (n = 2902).

Measurements

Marijuana use was assessed from responses to self-administered questionnaires at 8 CARDIA examinations over 25 years, determined as cumulative marijuana-years and current use status. Non-contrast computed tomography imaging of the abdomen was obtained in 2010–2011.

Findings

In 2010–2011, 84% of participants reported a history of marijuana use with 11% reporting use within the past 30 days. Before adjustment, we observed greater cumulative marijuana use was associated with lower total abdominal and subcutaneous AT volume and lower LA and current marijuana use was associated with lower subcutaneous AT. However, after adjustment for age, sex, race, field center, cigarette pack-years and current use, regular alcohol consumption, cumulative drink-years, and physical activity, neither cumulative marijuana use nor current use showed an association with any abdominal adipose depot. Our estimates did not differ by age, sex, or race nor after accounting for cohort attrition.

Conclusion

Neither cumulative marijuana use nor current marijuana use is associated with total abdominal, visceral, subcutaneous, or intermuscular adipose tissue, or liver attenuation in mid-life.

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