Individuals who abuse drugs risk many medical problems, says psychiatrist Esther Gwinnell in her 2008 book, "The Encyclopedia of Drug Abuse." For example, drug abusers who inject illegal drugs with shared needles risk catching any communicable diseases other drug abusers have, such as the human immunodeficiency virus--HIV--as well as hepatitis and other blood-borne viruses and bacterial infections.
Medical effects may vary with the drug abused. For example, Dr. Gwinnell says cocaine abusers risk stroke, kidney failure and respiratory failure. Chronic marijuana abusers risk bronchitis and lung cancer. Anabolic steroid abusers risk infertility. One common denominator is that all drug abuse creates health risks.
Heart Disease
In their 2008 article for "Substance Abuse" on the medical consequences of drug abuse, National Institute of Drug Abuse researcher Jag H. Khalsa and colleagues noted that among HIV-infected African-Americans, chronic cocaine abuse is significantly associated with increased calcium deposits in the coronary arteries of the heart as well as left ventricular dysfunction. They also say cocaine abuse may ease the entry of HIV into the brain cells and cause HIV encephalopathy, a serious brain disease.
Infections
Khalsa and colleagues report that individuals who inject illegal drugs and engage in impulsive sexual activity increase their risk for infection with HIV/AIDS, viral hepatitis, and sexually transmitted diseases.
In a study of more than 29,000 respondents in the United States, reported by Dr. Beth Han of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and colleagues in "Annals of Epidemiology" in 2010, the researchers found an association between duration of cocaine abuse and the incidence of hepatitis and tuberculosis. For example, individuals who abused cocaine for 11 or more years had twice the risk for a tuberculosis diagnosis and nearly a seven times greater risk for hepatitis.
Respiratory Disorders
In their chapter in the 2008 book "Addiction and the Medical Complications of Drug Abuse," Drs. Shoshanna Zevin and Neal L. Benowitz note chronic marijuana abuse can cause chronic obstructive lung disease--COPD. In addition, the abuse of crack cocaine can lead to damage to the lungs, sometimes referred to as crack lung.
Lung Cancer
In a study of cannabis--marijuana--users ages 55 years and older, New Zealand medical school professor S. Aldington and colleagues identified 79 individuals with lung cancer and 324 controls, reporting their findings in the "European Respiratory Journal." They say New Zealand is ideal for studying a link between cannabis and lung cancer because New Zealand has a high rate of cannabis use and users there rarely smoke tobacco mixed with cannabis. The researchers obtained data on cannabis use of the subjects.
The study found a correlation between marijuana smoking for more than a decade and lung cancer. For these long-term cannibus users, the risk for lung cancer increased 8 percent for each year of cannabis use, after adjusting for effects of cigarette smoking.
Dr. Han and colleagues also found an association between duration of marijuana use and the incidence of bronchitis and lung cancer.
Kidney Disease
Dr. Khalsa and colleagues report that methylene-dioxy-methamphetamine, a drug also known as MDMA or ecstasy, has caused permanent kidney damage and death in some users.
Stroke
Individuals ages 18 to 44 years old who abuse amphetamines or cocaine may increase their risk for stroke, based on research by psychiatrist and medical professor Arthur N. Westover and colleagues, who reported their findings in the "Archives of General Psychiatry" in 2007. The researchers analyzed risk factors for stroke and death in stroke patients from 2000-2003.
They found the risk for hemorrhagic stroke was twice as high among amphetamine abusers as among cocaine abusers. A hemorrhagic stroke is a stroke that includes bleeding in the brain. The researchers also discovered amphetamine abusers had an increased risk for death after a hemorrhagic stroke compared to cocaine abusers.
References
- "Encyclopedia of Drug Abuse"; Esther Gwinnell, M.D. and Christine Adamec; 2008
- "European Respiratory Journal"; Cannabis Use and Risk of Lung Cancer: A Case-Control Study." S. Aldington, et al.; 2008
- "Archives ofGeneral Psychiatry"; Stroke in Young ADults Who Abuse Amphetamines or Cocaine; Arther N. Westover, M.D., Susan McBride, R.N., Ph.D. and Robert W. Haley, M.D.; April 2007
- "Substance Abuse"; Medical Consequences of Drug Abuse and Co-Occurring Infections; Jag H. Khalsa, Ph.D., et al.; 2008
- "Annals of Epidemiology"; Associations Between Duration of Illicit Drug Use and Health Conditons; Beth Han, M.D., PhD, MPH, Joseph C. Gfroerer and James D. Colliver, PhD; 2010
