Drug Use and Cardiac Complications Go Hand-in-Hand

Drug use can have serious, long-term health harm even after addicts stop using drugs. To minimize such harm, addicts must get clean as soon as possible.

Recent findings show a connection between drug use and serious cardiac health conditions. Further, the findings show that such heart conditions have the potential to continue long after the addict gets off drugs. That means addicts must get clean as soon as possible to minimize harm to their cardiovascular health.

What the Findings Show

A study published by the European Society of Cardiology found that illicit drug use is associated with a nearly nine-fold greater risk of death or life-threatening emergencies requiring immediate intervention in an intensive cardiac care unit (ICCU).¹

To arrive at the findings, the researchers assessed the prevalence of illicit drug use and the association with in-hospital major adverse events in patients admitted to the hospital for ailments connected to their cardiovascular health. According to the findings, all patients admitted to ICCU departments in 39 hospitals throughout France were tested for illegal drugs. A total of 1,499 patients were screened, 70% of which were men. Reasons for admission included myocardial infarction, acute heart failure, arrhythmias, myocarditis, and pulmonary embolism.

According to the drug tests, 10.7% of patients tested positive for at least one illicit drug. During an average hospitalization of five days in the ICCU, 61 patients (4.1% of the study group) had a major adverse event, such as death or a near-death experience. Critically, illicit drug use was associated with nine-fold odds of being one of the patients who experienced a major adverse event while in the ICCU.

Highlighting the connection between drug use and heart disease, study author Dr. Theo Pezel of Hospital Lariboisiere, Paris, France, said, “Our study shows that patients with acute cardiovascular conditions who take illegal drugs are more likely to die or experience cardiac arrest or cardiogenic shock while in hospital compared with non-users. Multiple drug users had an 11-fold risk of a poor in-hospital prognosis compared with those taking one drug.” Without a doubt, the findings show that drug use makes users more at-risk for heart complications. And for patients already struggling with heart conditions, misusing substances can make their existing conditions far more dire.

Drug Use and the Heart

The 10.7% of the 1,499 patients within the study cited above who tested positive for drugs upon admittance to the hospital were nine times more likely to suffer a serious, life-threatening, or fatal event while in the ICCU. And while that finding may come as a shock, a fair amount of research connects drug abuse to serious heart conditions, many of which can result in death. Citing information from the American Heart Association and the Beth Israel Lahey Health Winchester Hospital, drug use can affect the heart in the following ways:²

• Drug use can cause heart attacks.

• Amphetamines have been associated with stroke and heart attacks.

• Cocaine addiction has been associated with chest pain and myocardial infarction.

• Many drugs can cause changes in body temperature, blood pressure, and heart rate.

• Some antipsychotic medications have been associated with abnormal heart rhythms and stroke.

• Anabolic steroids have been associated with high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, and death.

• Club drugs like ecstasy can increase heart rate and lead to high blood pressure and heart disease.

• Cocaine addicts often suffer from high blood pressure, stiff arteries, and thick heart muscle walls.

• Ketamine is a veterinary depressant that, when misused by humans, can cause increased blood pressure.

• Injecting drugs can lead to collapsed veins and bacterial infections of the blood vessels and heart valves.

• Steroids have been associated with enlargement of the heart, hardening of the arteries, and high cholesterol.

• Cocaine addicts suffer a 30–35% increase in aortic stiffening and 18% greater thickness of the left ventricle wall.

• Clozapine, Chlorpromazine, Fluphenazine, Haloperidol, and Risperidone have been associated with cardiac arrest.

Drug abuse causes serious harm to the heart, both for people who have never struggled with heart issues before and those who already face heart health conditions. Given the critical importance of the cardiovascular system to human health and the fact that the heart can take years to recover from drug use (and some patients may never recover fully), it is of the utmost importance that those addicted get help immediately. The sooner they get help, the more likely they’ll be able to repair the damage that drug use did to their cardiovascular system.

If you know someone struggling with drug abuse, please help them enter treatment as soon as possible. Please don’t wait until it is too late for them.

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