A guy with a history of heavy cannabis usage woke up with “blue fingertips,” as reported by doctors. Cannabis arteritis, his condition, is an uncommon but potentially fatal consequence of heavy marijuana usage.

A 49-year-old guy with “no other medical concerns” visited the emergency room at Boston Medical Center in the United States for treatment of his “blue fingertips,” which were covered in ulcers. There have been severe episodes of skin disintegration on his fingers off and on for the previous six weeks. As a result of the test, it was determined that his hands were not receiving enough blood.

The reason was easily determined by reviewing the patient’s medical records. He was diagnosed with cannabis arteritis because of his “history of extensive marijuana smoking” but his lack of tobacco usage.

Necrosis (dead tissue) often occurs in the lower appendix as a result of this very uncommon vascular illness. As an indication of how uncommon this ailment is, consider that just roughly 50 verified occurrences were reported in the medical literature between 1960 and 2008, with the vast majority of diagnoses occurring in younger male patients.

Although the actual mechanism of the syndrome is unclear due to its low occurrence, studies in rats have revealed that delta8- and delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), both of which are contained in cannabis, may function as a peripheral vasoconstrictor. Arsenic may also be a problem when tobacco is added to cannabis.

Necrosis is a painful and worrisome illness for patients, but if caught early enough, the treatment is straightforward, according to IFL Science.

“The only certain approach to halt the disease’s development and prevent amputation is for patients to give up smoking. For smokers, quitting is essential; amputation rates may reach 40% without it “the paper’s authors said.