Article Outlines Health Effects of Cocaine Use
Stevie Nicks, lead singer of the classic rock band Fleedwood Mac, stated recently that she gave up cocaine in the '80's because a doctor told her she was on the verge of a brain hemorrhage if she didn't. An article published in Stroke: Journal of the American Medical Association reveals the truth about cocaine and its effects on health, confirming the rock legend's story.
Bleeding in the Brain
Cocaine, a heavy stimulant, is associated with cerebral hemorrhages. Soaring blood pressure and heart rate caused by the drug can lead to brain aneurysms, a condition in which a blood vessel in the brain bulges out. Cocaine users who experience cerebral hemorrhages are three times more likely to die than those whose internal bleeding was not related to cocaine.
Heart of Stone
The Fleetwood Mac song takes on literal meaning when it comes to cocaine. The illicit stimulant is known to stop your heart, with very little forewarning. It also causes a number of other cardiac situations such as heart attack, stroke, and aortic dissection (a condition in which the heart's major artery tears). Even young, formerly healthy people with no signs of heart disease can suffer from this devastating consequence.
Possible Neurologic Damage
A cutting-edge study from St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital found a possible link between cocaine use and the neurological disorder Parkinson's Disease. Obviously cocaine and pregnancy don't mix, but the study found that women using coke during pregnancy specifically increased their baby's chance of Parkinson's Disease.
Respiratory Damage
Snorting cocaine can cause irritation, toxicity and long-lasting damage to the lungs that is often irreversible. This condition has been termed "crack lung" and made headlines in 2008 when Amy Winehouse was hospitalized for it.
Additionally, snorting cocaine can cause lasting damage to your nose, even causing the nose to flatten out. You may have heard the notorious story of Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood and his perforated septum. As strange as it is, this condition is not uncommon among cocaine users.
Mental Effects
A number of studies show that cocaine can have long-term negative impact on the mind, especially in high doses. Cocaine users–and former users–can become erratic, aggressive, violent and can suffer from panic attacks, insomnia and paranoia–even years after they stop taking the drug.
Gastrointestinal Trouble
Because cocaine constricts the blood vessels, it hinders blood flow to the stomach and intestines. This can result in ulcers or even perforation of the gastrointestinal tract.
In people who suffer from high blood pressure, regular cocaine use can produce sudden, overwhelming kidney failure.
Sexual Function
Although cocaine is considered an aphrodisiac, it has long-term negative effects on sexual function. Chronic use can cause impaired sexual function in men and women, and delayed or impaired ejaculation in men.
The Facts About Cocaine
Cocaine use is more pervasive than you think. Approximately 14% of American adults have tried the illicit stimulant, and one out of every forty have used it in the past year. It is most popular among young men between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five.
Cocaine's euphoria only lasts about thirty minutes to two hours. Snorting it makes it last longer. It produces an increased feeling of energy and alertness, and a feeling of happiness and supremacy. It can also cause feelings of irritability, paranoia, restlessness and anxiety. Like all drugs, the comedown is hard and can produce severe depression and other side effects.
Cocaine causes more emergency room visits in the United States than any other illicit drug.
http://news.health.com/2014/10/03/health-effects-of-cocaine/