Using cocaine not only triples the risk of heart attack, it threatens heart health globally even without symptoms of heart disease . A new study carried out by the Cardiac Imaging Unit of ERESA, the Addictive Behavior Unit of La Fe, the Department of Psychiatry of the General Hospital of Valencia and CIBERSAM (Center for Mental Health Network Research) shows the palpable consequences on the heart of frequently consuming this substance, the second most consumed illegal drug in Spain.
For their research, the experts counted 94 people addicted to cocaine (81 men and 13 women) but without symptoms of heart disease, something that is not very common in these types of studies. All of them underwent a cardiac magnetic resonance with a morphological and functional study of the heart and aorta and a study to detect inflammation or focal fibrosis of the myocardium.
The results of the tests, published in the Journal of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance , showed that 71% of cocaine addicts had some type of heart disease . The most common disorders of cocaine use regarding the heart were: ischemia, infarction, myocardial hypertrophy, systolic dysfunction and, in more severe cases, arrhythmias and sudden death.
What if you stop using this highly addictive and deadly drug? " By stopping the use of this drug, ventricular function improves and the dimensions of the heart progressively return to normal, " explains Alicia M. Maceira, co-author of the study.
