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For an 11 - month - old male child in Denver , ingesting marijuana may have triggered a heart job that ultimately conduct to his death , fit in to a late report of the case .
If the composition ’s speculation is reliable , the typesetter’s case would strike out the first time a person has died from a marihuana overdose . But the findings are far from definitive — as a single font , the report can not prove thatmarijuana exposurewas really the cause of the infant ’s death .
" It ’s very hard to say that one [ thing ] caused the other " in this case , said Dr. Jefry Biehler , chair of pediatrics at Nicklaus Children ’s Hospital in Miami , who was not affect in the case .
The son , who was previously healthy , arrived at the emergency elbow room with slowed breathing , and then went intocardiac arrest , accord to the report . concisely before come in to the ER , the boy had appeared torpid and irritable , and tried to throw up , the news report said .
After the minor ’s cardiac arrest , doc undertake to resuscitate him for an hr , but he ultimately perish .
An autopsy revealed that the boy had myocarditis , or inflammation of the heart brawniness . Tests also show the bearing oftetrahydrocannabinol , or THC — the active fixings in marijuana — in the son ’s blood and urine sample . [ 7 Ways Marijuana May Affect the mind ]
Myocarditis can result from a viral or bacterial transmission , but the investigator found no solid grounds of an infection in the nipper . However , the stipulation can also result from pic to drugs .
After extensive tests , THC was " the only uncovered risk agent " for the boy ’s myocarditis , the story said . This suggests " a potential link between the cannabis exposure and myocarditis " in the boy ’s case , the authors said . The report waspublished in Marchin the journal Clinical Practice and Cases in Emergency Medicine .
In small fry , marijuana has been get hold to have symptoms similar to those seen in the boy , admit sleepiness , lethargy and nausea . In improver , it ’s have intercourse that marijuana can have some effects on the heart , such as increasing the gist rate .
There have also been other reports of heart complications bind to marijuana use . For example , last year researchers report a link between marijuana use and anincreased hazard of a weakened spirit muscle . And in 2014 , researchers in Germanylinked marijuana role to the deathsof two new men , who both die from philia complications . But the new report is the first to colligate marijuana pic to decease in a child .
Still , it ’s potential that other factors could have play a role in the son ’s myocarditis , Biehler said . Sometimes , when tike are recover to have myocarditis , " you never image out why they had it , " Biehler said .
In this case , the boy did have one convinced test outcome for bacterium in his blood , meaning it ’s possible that bacteria contributed to the myocarditis . But because subsequent tests were negative , the researcher state it ’s more probable that this result was a faux confident , due to contamination of the sample with bacteria from somewhere else .
The research worker also do n’t know on the nose when the child ingested marijuana or how much he ingested , although they estimate that the photograph take place somewhere between two to six days before his expiry .
All of these factors " make forming definitive conclusions regarding cause and effectuate difficult in this case reputation , " Biehler said .
Still , " this report certainly merit thoughtfulness and careful reappraisal , " Biehler say Live Science . " It is evidently concern that a tyke may have developed a lethal side upshot after exposure to a substance which has become more widely available after legalization , " he say . " It remain vitally crucial that healthcare providers , public health experts , and families remain aware of the risks that picture to substances — legal and illegal — exemplify to children . "
The authors of the newfangled report say their findings justify further research intoheart problems link up with marijuana photograph . In add-on , in states where marijuana is sound " it is important that physicians not only counsel parent on forbid photograph to marijuana , but to also consider cannabis toxicity in unexplained pediatric myocarditis , " they concluded .
Original article onLive Science .
