The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) recently updated its medical marijuana guidelines, adding specific instructions to its “What Can I Bring?” directory for both carry-on and checked bags.

Patients who use cannabis to manage chronic pain, anxiety, nausea or other qualifying conditions may travel with their medication for use at their destination.

When taking medical marijuana on a flight, experts suggest separating the travel process from the treatment and waiting until arriving at the destination before using the substance.

THROUGH NEW PILOT PROJECT, MEDICAL MARIJUANA COULD BECOME MORE ACCESSIBLE TO SENIOR CITIZENS

“For most patients, the goal isn’t to use cannabis on the plane. It’s making sure they have access to their medicine when they arrive,” Professor Rob Mejia of the Stockton University Cannabis Studies Department, who is also author of “The Essential Cannabis Book,” told Fox News Digital.

Using cannabis on aircraft is generally not recommended. Airlines strictly prohibit smoking and vaping, and even edible products can behave unpredictably.

While some experienced consumers may use a low-dose edible before a flight to manage flight anxiety or promote sleep, Mejia said the key factor is familiarity.

CANNABIS USE ENDANGERS HEART HEALTH FOR CERTAIN GROUP

“An airport or airplane is not the place to test a new product or take a dose you are not accustomed to,” he advised. “What feels relaxing to an experienced consumer can easily feel overwhelming to someone with less experience.”

According to clinical data published by the American College of Cardiology, cannabis use significantly alters heart rhythm regulation and heightens the heart muscle’s overall oxygen demand.

“An airport or airplane is not the place to test a new product or take a dose you are not accustomed to.”

When this elevated cardiac strain combines with the nervous system’s natural response to altitude — which, according to University of Florida research, already forces the heart to beat faster to distribute lower levels of oxygen — it can trigger acute cardiovascular distress.

MORE SENIORS ARE USING CANNABIS THAN EVER BEFORE DESPITE HEALTH RISKS, RESEARCH SHOWS

Rather than relieving travel anxiety, using unpredictable or high-potency doses at high altitudes can worsen symptoms like severe nausea, dizziness and hyperventilation, research shows.

“The overall goal should be continuity of care during travel, not medicating at 35,000 feet,” Mejia said.

For a growing number of patients, cannabis is no longer just an alternative therapy, but functions as a primary form of medicine. In these cases, before traveling with the substance, preparation is everything, experts say.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR HEALTH NEWSLETTER

“The safest cannabis travel plan is understanding the laws before you pack,” Mejia advised, warning travelers not to misinterpret the updated language.

“A TSA checkpoint is not a legal shield from state or local enforcement,” the expert noted. “The TSA checks for security threats, not cannabis. That doesn’t mean cannabis can’t become your problem.”

TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ

“If your cannabis looks legitimate, labeled and professionally packaged, you’re less likely to raise questions.”

“If your cannabis looks legitimate, labeled and professionally packaged, you’re less likely to raise questions than if you’re carrying a bag of mystery gummies and a handful of loose flower,” Mejia added.

If an item raises eyebrows, the agent has the authority to refer the matter to law enforcement.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE HEALTH STORIES

While domestic travel has entered a gray area, international travel remains a different set of rules altogether. Crossing international borders with cannabis carries severe risks, regardless of the laws of the country you are visiting, experts say.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

“If you’re traveling internationally, leave your cannabis at home,” Mejia advised. “Even in countries that have legalized cannabis, the rules for visitors can be very different from the rules for residents.”

Use left and right arrow keys to navigate between menu items.

Use escape to exit the menu.

A diabetes drug could help lower the risk of heart failure in certain patients.

A new study published in Nature Medicine analyzed how SGLT2 inhibitor dapagliflozin, a medication used to treat type 2 diabetes, could help prevent heart failure in people with rare genetic variants linked to cardiomyopathy (a progressive disease of the heart muscle).

Using data from the DECLARE-TIMI 58 trial, researchers from Harvard Medical School, Mass General Brigham and MIT looked at more than 12,000 adults who had type 2 diabetes and increased cardiovascular risk.

VITAMIN SUPPLEMENT MAY DELAY DIABETES IN SELECT GROUPS, RESEARCHERS SAY

About 121 participants carried inherited gene variants that could raise their chances of developing cardiomyopathy.

After a median 4.2-year follow-up, dapagliflozin was found to lower hospitalization for heart failure more in individuals with the variants than in those without.

While dapagliflozin lowered heart failure hospitalization in both groups, the reduction was about eight times stronger in carriers of the genetic variant.

Among the 82% of carriers without a prior history of heart failure, 12.8% developed heart failure in the placebo group, while no heart-failure events were observed among carriers receiving dapagliflozin.

DIABETES STUDY REVEALS DIAGNOSIS GAP AFFECTING MILLIONS OF PEOPLE

Co-lead study author Shinwan Kany, MD, a visiting scientist at the Cardiovascular Research Center with Mass General Brigham Heart and Vascular Institute and the Broad Institute, commented on how these findings could shape preventive care.

“Historically, identifying a genetic variant for cardiomyopathy mostly meant telling a patient they were at high risk and not having a specific preventive therapy to offer,” he said in a press release. “These data show we do have tools to lower risk in these individuals.”

As this was an analysis of a larger randomized trial, the results require further confirmation, according to experts. The narrow sample size of carriers also poses a limitation.

DIABETES, HEART DISEASE CASES SKYROCKET — AND SCIENTISTS PINPOINT ONE KEY REASON

“These findings are very encouraging because they suggest we may be entering an era where heart failure prevention becomes more precise and more genetically informed,” Andrew Freeman, MD, a cardiologist at National Jewish Health, told Fox News Digital.

Freeman, who was not involved in the study, called the research “important and provocative.”

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Participants with no history of heart failure who took dapagliflozin were less likely to develop the condition, a finding that “raises the possibility that SGLT2 inhibitors may be especially useful as preventive therapy in genetically high-risk individuals,” the doctor said.

“This should be viewed as an exciting hypothesis-generating finding, not yet a practice-changing mandate for all patients with these genetic variants,” Freeman cautioned.

SGLT2 inhibitors are already “foundational” cardiovascular and kidney-protective medications, the doctor noted.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE HEALTH STORIES

“They reduce heart failure hospitalization across a broad range of patients, including those with diabetes, chronic kidney disease and established heart failure,” he said. “What this study adds is the possibility that genetic information may help identify a subgroup of people who derive especially large benefit from early treatment.”

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR HEALTH NEWSLETTER

Genetic testing for cardiomyopathy is often used for diagnosis, family screening and risk stratification, Freeman said.

If future clinical trials confirm the findings, cardiologists could eventually use genetic screening to identify high-risk patients, monitor them more closely, and begin treatments such as SGLT2 inhibitors before heart failure symptoms appear, according to the cardiologist.

Heart failure does not always begin when symptoms appear, Freeman noted. In some patients, risk may be present years earlier due to inherited genetics.

TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ

Preventive cardiology could identify high-risk patients earlier, before they develop symptoms such as shortness of breath, fluid retention or the need for hospitalization.

The decision to medicate should always be discussed with a clinician, Freeman advised, especially for those with a personal or family history of cardiovascular events.