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Addiction ruins lives and destroys bodies. You can stop the progression of both the addiction and the heart disease. Call 1-800-993-3869 to speak with a Recovery Connection coordinator who can find you a quality comprehensive medically based treatment facility.
The term heart disease encompasses a wide variety of abnormalities that affect the functioning of the heart. For example, the dysfunction may be in the heart muscle, valves, electric system of the heart, or the arteries that supply blood to the heart.
Heart muscle problems can develop when a heart has been chronically overworked. This can happen in the setting of hypertension. When a person lifts weights with his or her arm muscles, they grow in size and strength. Similarly, the smooth muscle in the heart will also enlarge, when it is under chronic physical stress. However, this enlargement is pathologic, and creates a dysfunction in the heart's ability to receive blood from the venous system and/or to pump blood to the body.
Heart valve problems can be congenital (present at birth or during fetal development), or develop after an infection, trauma, or autoimmune disease. The heart valves must function properly in order to allow the heart to function properly.
The electric system of the heart determines when and how strongly the heart will beat and is also connected to the nervous system. It can function irregularly due to congenital defects, structural defects related to disease, coronary artery disease, or a previous heart attack.
Coronary artery disease (CAD) is related to a disease of the blood vessels that supply blood to the heart. The heart muscle needs a constant supply of oxygen in order to function. When there is disease in the heart arteries, the arteries may not supply enough oxygen to the heart, which will result in a heart attack. In effect, the section of the heart muscle tissue that has been deprived of oxygen will die.
The brain, like the heart, requires a constant supply of oxygen in order to function. When one of the arteries that supply blood to the heart becomes partially or fully blocked, the brain is deprived of oxygen. This, in turn, causes the tissue in the area of the brain that is not being supplied with oxygen to die. Depending on which area of the brain has been affected, multiple and variable symptoms will emerge such as the inability to speak, walk, talk, or think properly. Another type of stroke occurs when, rather than being blocked, a vessel to the brain ruptures. However, the effects are the same, meaning brain tissue will die in the affected area.
Drug and alcohol addiction create great strain on the body’s organs and organ systems such as the brain, nervous system, respiratory system, and circulatory system. There is also a direct connection between drug and alcohol abuse and adverse cardiovascular effects such as irregular heartbeat, collapsed veins, coronary artery disease, and bacterial infections that destroy the valves of the heart. Examples of drugs that lead to cardiovascular distress or cause the development of heart disease include:
Cocaine and crack are short-acting, powerful stimulants that act directly on the heart muscle, the brain's neurotransmitters, blood vessels, nerve tissue, and organ functions. The effects of the drug are immediate, and, depending upon the method of use, the effects can last from 30 minutes to 2 hours. The intensity of the high can increase the heart rate and blood pressure to dangerous levels which in turn can cause irregular heartbeats and cardiac arrest.
Direct cardiovascular symptoms of cocaine and stimulant abuse are:
Spasms and narrowing of the heart arteries caused by cocaine and crack, alcohol, or other drug use can lead to complaints of chest pain. Because blood flow is compromised and reduced, this can result in a heart attack or death.
Often, those who suffer from alcohol addiction or drug addiction smoke nicotine cigarettes. Nicotine addiction can also lead to cardiovascular problems. These two behaviors place incredible strain on the heart, arteries, and surrounding organs. The additional strain can lead to a heart attack and/or stroke. The link between addiction and heart disease now becomes more obvious.
Similar to heart disease, the blood vessels in the brain and those leading to the brain can be damaged by drug and alcohol use. Plaques can form in the blood vessels and they can rupture. Alternatively, blood can suddenly clot in a vessel that supplies blood to the brain, which leads to stroke. The fluctuation in brain blood flow caused by drugs reflects the close relationship between addiction and strokes.
As described above, cardiovascular distress can lead to heart attack and stroke. Perhaps the most dangerous time for drug abusers is the withdrawal period. During the withdrawal period, the heart, cardiovascular system, and other organ systems are under great stress. It is during this time that drug and/or alcohol withdrawal be treated in a medically supervised detoxification center. Drug and alcohol withdrawal can be life-threatening. Drug and/or alcohol use should never be abruptly stopped without first seeking professional medical advice.
During detox from alcohol, benzodiazepines, and barbiturates, users can experience uncomfortable and dangerous withdrawal symptoms that include seizures, heart attack, and stroke. A medically supervised detox program can help avoid these serious withdrawal symptoms and minimize discomfort during the detox period before drug or alcohol addiction treatment. Simply stated, the correlation between withdrawal from addiction and heart attacks is minimized.
For those who have abused their bodies through years and years of alcoholism and drug addiction along with smoking cigarettes, poor nutrition, and a lack of medical follow-up, drug and alcohol addiction treatment must be done in a multidisciplinary, inpatient treatment facility. In this type of facility, all needs, such as medical needs, psychiatric and mental health needs, and counseling needs will be met. For example, group and individual therapy will be provided on a unit with psychiatric, medical, and nursing care that can meet the needs of those with cardiac, gastrointestinal, and psychiatric disorders, rather than in a residential unit, that provides therapy and 24-hour monitoring, without specialized medical and psychiatric services.
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