Notable Impacts of Drug Abuse on Your Heart Health

Contributed by Ryan Peterson.

Most illicit drugs have a negative impact on cardiovascular health. Prolonged use of illicit drugs can have severe impacts beyond your heart health, such as death. Drugs can reduce the rate of blood flow into the heart, which can impair the functioning of your organs and muscles. There are two types of drugs with notable impacts on your heart health.

First, drugs such as cocaine can increase your heart rate and blood pressure. In addition, the more you use cocaine, you may experience a decrease in coronary artery diameter which reduces blood flow. 

Cocaine is also associated with irregular heartbeats and QT prolongation, increasing the time between your heartbeats. Other serious medical emergencies connected to cocaine abuse are thrombosis, atherosclerosis, endothelial dysfunction, and microvascular diseases.

A commonly used drug with significant effects on your heart is nicotine. Though by itself, nicotine doesn’t cause any overwhelming heart diseases, the non-combusted form can cause adverse effects on your heart. Some of these effects include narrowing and thickening your heart’s blood vessels, along with increased fat in your blood. Consequently, it can damage blood vessel cells and increase blood clot risk.

Stopping drug consumption all at once can lead to severe withdrawal symptoms. Proper medical treatment can lead to recovery by reducing withdrawal symptoms, preventing the risk of heart failure and other drug-related outcomes.

Please take a look at the following infographic. It shows the latest research on cocaine addiction and various types of withdrawal symptoms. The infographic makes it easy to understand this difficult concept and provides information to help manage cocaine addiction.