Yvette BrownCocaine is a potent stimulant that can stress your heart and blood vessels and put extra strain on your cardiovascular system. Our hearts are remarkably adaptable and functional. They are the lifeblood that keeps our bodies moving and serve as the engines of our bodies.
Do heart attacks result from cocaine use? Of course, using cocaine causes a person to have higher blood pressure and a faster heartbeat. As a result, the arteries that supply the heart with blood become narrowed.
What Is Cocaine
Cocaine is an alkaloid extract from the leaf of the Erythroxylon coca plant, which usually grows in It comes in two varieties, both from South America:
When the alkaloid is dissolved in hydrochloric acid, a water-soluble powder or granule is created that decomposes when heated. Intranasal, intravenous, or oral administration are all options.
Freebase is created by treating cocaine with ammonia or sodium bicarbonate (baking soda). This substance is known as “crack” because of the popping sound it makes when heated. It comes in a heat-stable form that melts as temperature increases and can therefore be smoked. The strongest and most addictive variety is crack cocaine.
All of the mucous membranes in the body absorb cocaine in both forms. Depending on the route of administration, the peak effect can last anywhere from 1 to 90 minutes.
The half-life ranges from 60 minutes after inhalation or intravenous injection to two to three hours after gastrointestinal ingestion, with a duration of action between 15 minutes by intravenous or inhalation routes to three hours by the gastrointestinal route.
Hepatic and plasma cholinesterase, in addition to non-enzymatic hydrolysis, breaks down cocaine into inactive water-soluble metabolites (benzoylecgonine and ecgonine methyl ester).
Lower cholinesterase activity makes cocaine use riskier for the elderly, those with liver disease, fetuses, infants, pregnant women, and adults with pseudocholinesterase deficiency.
A dangerous and multiplicative cardiovascular risk results from young users’ frequent practice of mixing cocaine and alcohol.
They are turned into cocaethylene in the liver, which has been linked to a 40-fold increased risk for acute cardiac events and a 25-fold increased risk for sudden death.
How Cocaine Affects The Heart
There are numerous ways that cocaine can break your heart. Cocaine is referred to as “the perfect heart attack drug” because it causes users to have thicker heart muscle walls, stiffer arteries, and higher blood pressure readings, all of which can cause a heart attack.
According to research, cocaine tightens blood vessels, which increases blood pressure and strains the heart. Although cocaine users can develop long-term heart issues, only two 100mg lines (a mere fraction of an ounce) are required to start experiencing chest pain.
In fact, cocaine is the most common drug abuse-related reason for visits to emergency rooms, with the majority of these visits resulting from cardiovascular issues.
Aortic dissection has also become common among cocaine users. Essentially, a new channel for blood to flow down is created when blood is forced into the lining of large vessels.
Debilitating chest pain decreased blood flow to vital organs, and frequently brain and kidney damage results from this.
Cocaine use is also associated with a higher risk of stroke, heart muscle inflammation, deterioration of the heart’s ability to contract, and aortic ruptures. Coke’s detrimental effects on the heart can, of course, result in potentially fatal heart attacks.
Can Cocaine Cause Heart Attacks
Absolutely, using cocaine increases your risk of having a heart attack. The use of cocaine narrows the blood vessels, raising blood pressure and taxing the heart.
Cocaine also stimulates the sympathetic nervous system, which can raise blood pressure and heart rate even more. These consequences raise the chance that someone will experience a heart attack.
Symptoms Of A Cocaine-related Heart Attack
The use of cocaine has a number of negative side effects on the heart muscles and other cardiovascular processes that raise the risk of heart disease and, ultimately, stroke.
An elevated heart rate, chest pain, and other heart attack symptoms can occur even in first-time cocaine users. A dose that is too high can also result in an immediate cardiac arrest.
Cocaine use increases the risk of sudden death from cocaine-induced cardiovascular shock fourfold, according to a study by the Society for the Study of Addiction (SSA).
Treatment Services For Cocaine-related Heart Attack
Heart attacks brought on by cocaine can happen quickly, badly, and fatally.
But emergency room staff, including paramedics, have access to services that can revive a person or stop further heart failure.
These treatment services include, among others:
- preventive measures from electrocardiogram (ECG) screenings
- beta-blocker medications
- angiography screenings
- defibrillators for resuscitation and restitution of electricity into the heart
- withdrawal services to mitigate the effects of cocaine toxicity
Other Ways Cocaine Affects The Heart
Regular cocaine use weakens the heart valves and alters hormonal balance, which can further harm the cardiovascular system by obstructing normal blood flow.
When this happens, the lack of oxygen can cause myocardial infarction, which is the death of sensitive tissue as a result of low oxygen levels, raising the risk of stroke.
Cocaine use over a short period of time can also result in ischemic coronary artery disease (CAD), which is brought on by arterial plaque buildup. The risk of a heart attack may also rise as a result.
Blood Pressure
Every time “coke,” including crack cocaine, is consumed, blood pressure rises noticeably.
Blood vessel hypertension brought on by this rise in blood pressure raises the risk of heart disease and can harm delicate heart tissue.
Heart Inflammation
Aside from acute coronary syndrome (ACS), myocarditis can also result from damage to the middle layers of the heart.
Due to the heart’s inability to pump blood effectively as a result of this inflammatory condition, the heartbeat is abnormally fast and blood pressure is high.
Irregular Heartbeat
When combined with other heart defects brought on by substance abuse, an irregular heartbeat—which is not usually fatal on its own—can be.
Cardiac arrhythmia, also known as fibrillation, is characterized by electrical pulse imbalances in the heart that are partly brought on by the brain’s dysfunctional administration of stress hormones.
Stroke
Cocaine use significantly raises the risk of stroke. Similar to myocardial ischemia, cerebral ischemia and stroke are caused by a variety of factors. Due to its high monoamine (dopamine) content, cocaine causes vasospasm.
It may also cause thrombus formation, which results in cerebral ischemia, hypoperfusion, and neurological deficits. Cognitive deficits can result from prolonged cocaine use.
Additionally, cocaine use can result in the rupture of cerebral and mycotic aneurysms that already exist.
Final Thoughts
Many cocaine users are unaware of the dangers of using the drug, if at all. The risks and hazards of cocaine use should be made clear to patients, medical professionals, and the general public.
People who abuse or become dependent on cocaine, especially young men, should be urged to stop and be referred for treatment.
