Baltimore, MD: Adults with a history of cannabis use do not possess an elevated risk of kidney disease at midlife, according to longitudinal data published in the journal Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research.
A team of investigators affiliated with Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore and Tulane University in New Orleans assessed the relationship between cannabis use and kidney function. Study participants included current cannabis consumers and non-users. Participants were assessed at baseline and again nearly a decade later.
“Compared with those with no history of cannabis use, participants with current regular cannabis use were not at higher risk of incident CKD [chronic kidney disease] (OR: 0.79), rapid kidney function decline (OR: 0.80) or incident albuminuria [the presence of albumin in urine, a symptom of kidney disease (OR: 0.84) after adjustment for [confounders],” researcher reported.
The study’s authors concluded, “[T]here was no independent association between cannabis use and adverse kidney outcomes over time.”
Full text of the study, “Evaluating the association of cannabis use and longitudinal kidney outcome,” appears in Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research.