HIV, Hepatitis and Other Infectious Diseases

Many addicts need to "hit bottom" before they seek help; Pedro was always able to find "a trap door". In 1986, however, at age 29, he found himself at a turning point when he discovered he was infected with the AIDS virus. "At the time I was high on heroin, so I didn't really get it.  When the diagnosis finally sank in, it was a shocking wake-up call."

Source: Moyers on Addiction: Close to Home

Drug abuse not only weakens the immune system but is also linked to risky behaviors like needle sharing and unsafe sex. The combination greatly increases the likelihood of acquiring HIV-AIDS, hepatitis and many other infectious diseases.

Drugs that can lead to HIV, Hepatitis and other infectious diseases:

- Heroin

- Cocaine

- Steroids

- Methamphetamine

Cardiovascular Effects

On December 23, five years ago, I was Christmas shopping when I received an emergency call from my ex-wife. She said, "Richard, come home quick, Wade's dying." I jumped in my car and drove home as fast as I could. I found my 12-year old son lying on the patio. He'd been inhaling air freshener, and he'd collapsed. When the paramedics arrived, we worked on him for an hour and a half, en route to the hospital and at the hospital. He'd suffered a cardiac arrest. When we stopped CPR on my son and I watched the monitor go flat, I was devastated.

Source: Drugstory.org

Researchers have found a connection between the abuse of most drugs and adverse cardiovascular effects, ranging from abnormal heart rate to heart attacks. Injection drug use can also lead to cardiovascular problems such as collapsed veins and bacterial infections of the blood vessels and heart valves.

Drugs that can effect the cardiovascular system:

- Cocaine

- Heroin

- Inhalants

- Ketamine

- LSD

- Marijuana

- MDMA

- Methamphetamine

- Nicotine

- PCP

- Prescription Stimulants

- Steroids

Respiratory Effects

This is the way having emphysema makes me feel: take a deep breath, blow out 20%, walk around holding the rest in forever.  Do you like to shop for new clothes? For me it is like running track while getting dressed, only you have to stop 3 or 4 times before you finish. It changes your whole life, nothing remains the same! Jan

Special Note:  Jan has now received a lung transplant and is doing very well!

Source: www.emphysema.net

Drug abuse can lead to a variety of respiratory problems. Smoking cigarettes, for example, has been shown to cause bronchitis, emphysema and lung cancer. Marijuana smoke may also cause respiratory problems. The use of some drugs may also cause breathing to slow, block air from entering the lungs or exacerbate asthma symptoms.

Drugs that can affect the respiratory system:

- Cocaine

- GHB and Ketamine

- Heroin

- Inhalants

- Marijuana

- Nicotine

- PCP

- Prescription Opiates

Gastrointenstinal Effects

Mel Smith is a popular, university-educated actor and comedian who started taking the painkiller, Nurofen Plus (12mg of codeine/tablet)-- and taking, as many as 50 tablets a day. Taking these kinds of drugs to excess can lead to gastrointestinal problems, inflammation of the stomach, chronic constipation, abdominal bloating and liver damage. The habit landed Smith in a hospital with two burst stomach ulcers.

Source: Scotsman.com

Among other adverse effects, many drugs of abuse have been known to cause nausea and vomiting soon after use.  Cocaine use can also cause abdominal pain.

Drugs that can affect the gastrointenstinal system:

- Cocaine

- GHB

- Heroin

- LSD

- MDMA

- Nicotine

- Prescription Opiates

Musculoskeletal Effects

The benefits do not outweigh the known harmful consequences. With kids, I'm very honest about my past use and explain that I know where they're coming from on this one. I remind them that as teenagers, they are not done growing, and that continued use of steroids will prevent them from reaching their full height potential.

Source: Drugstory.org

Steroid use during childhood or adolescence, resulting in artificially high sex hormone levels, can signal the bones to stop growing earlier than they normally would have, leading to short stature. Other drugs may also cause severe muscle cramping and overall muscle weakness.

Drugs that can affect the musculoskeletal system:

- Inhalants

- MDMA

- PCP

- Steroids

Kidney Damage

Estimated annual dialysis cost for just one person who has wrecked his own kidneys by shooting heroin ("heroin nephropathy"): $50,000.

Source: A paraphrase from the AMERICAN JOURNAL OF KIDNEY DISEASES, 40(3):611-622, Lee H © 2002 National Kidney Foundation.

Some drugs may cause kidney damage or failure, either directly or indirectly from dangerous increases in body temperature and muscle breakdown.

Drugs that can cause kidney damage:

- Heroin

- Inhalants

- MDMA

- PCP

Liver Damage

When my teacher explained what my liver does for my body, I totally understood how sniffing inhalants, like glue or gasoline, damages my liver. Now, I get to share this information with you. The liver is one of the biggest organs in the body and it helps us digest everything we put into our body. The liver also helps us filter out waste and harmful substances from the blood. Can you guess what I am going to say next? If you guessed that I am going to tell you that inhalants are poisons, you are right. And, when we bring these poisons into our body, we make our liver work extra hard, which might cause it to break down and not function as well.

Source: Girlpower.gov

Chronic use of some drugs, such as heroin, inhalants and steroids, may lead to significant damage to the liver.

Drugs that can cause liver damage:

- Heroin

- Inhalants

- Steroids

Neurological Effects

I am 26. I started using methamphetamine eight months ago. I had been using the drug for a month when I met a young woman and fell in love. She also used the drug. After dating for less than two months she had a stroke. She was 28. Methamphetamine was one of the primary causes of the high blood pressure that caused a blood vessal in her brain to rupture. She nearly died. After two months she was released from medical care. Within two weeks of being released she started using methamphetamine again. I never really quit. She suffers from partial paralysis on her left side.

--Jimmie

Source: www.kci.org - The Anti-Meth Site

All drugs of abuse act in the brain to produce their euphoric effects; however some of them also have severe negative consequences in the brain such as seizures, stroke, and widespread brain damage that can impact all aspects of daily life. Drug use can also cause brain changes that lead to problems with memory, attention and decision-making.

Drugs that can cause neurological problems:

- Cocaine

- GHB and Rohypnol

- Inhalants

- Marijuana

- MDMA

- Methamphetamine

- Nicotine

- Prescription Stimulants

Mental Health Effects

What Matt didn't realize-until much later-was that (drug use) only exacerbated his problems. He says, "As soon as I was off whatever I was on, my problems were 50 times worse and I couldn't control myself. I'd get sad and agitated. I went off on people. I busted holes in walls. I still have a door in my closet that I literally punched through everywhere but the corners. I just sat there and beat up my door because I hated myself. That's why I wanted to be high all the time."

Source: www.abovetheinfluence.com

Chronic use of some drugs of abuse can cause long-lasting changes in the brain, which may lead to paranoia, depression, aggression, and hallucinations.

Drugs that can cause mental health problems:

- Cocaine

- Inhalants

- Ketamine

- Marijuana

- MDMA

- Methamphetamine

- Prescription Stimulants

Hormonal Effects

When you look at Elaine as a record-breaking athlete, her super muscles don’t tell the whole story. Her accomplishments on the track field become meaningless as soon as you learn of the serious health consequences of her regular use of anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS). She now suffers from high blood pressure, which makes her nose bleed during strenuous exercise. She has stopped menstruating. Lately, and to her total dismay, she has even started growing facial hair.

Source: www.nurse.com

Photo source: www.magnet.fsu.edu

Steroid abuse disrupts the normal production of hormones in the body, causing both reversible and irreversible changes. These changes include infertility and testicle shrinkage in men as well as masculinization in women.

Drugs that can cause hormonal problems:

- Steroids

Cancer

J. H. is a neck breather and lives in fear of drowning in the shower. Due to throat cancer, she has lost her larynx (voice box) and has to breathe through a hole in her throat called a stoma. She started smoking when she was 12-14 years old and had her surgery about 30 years ago. Her physical problems include greatly reduced ability to smell, the stoma, and the need to speak with an artificial larynx. She looked in a mirror after her surgery and thought, "I look like the bride of Frankenstein." She said, "I felt so ugly."

Source: art.unt.edu

Photo © Scott Camazine

Cigarette smoking is the most preventable cause of cancer in the U.S. Smoking cigarettes has been linked to cancer of the mouth, neck, stomach, and lung, among others. Smoking marijuana also exposes the lungs to carcinogens and can cause precancerous changes to the lungs similar to cigarette smoke.

Drugs that may cause cancer:

- Nicotine

- Marijuana

- Steroids

Prenatal Effects

Jonah’s mother was a heroin addict. Shortly after birth, it was obvious Jonah was in withdrawal. His jittery movements and crying persisted for the next 2 days and there was little anyone could do to console him. He scratched his face trying to get his hands to his mouth. His knees and elbows were rubbed raw from his agitated movements, and the muscles in his tiny legs were so stiff that it was difficult to straighten his legs to diaper him.

Source: www.cmiproject.net

The full extent of the effects of prenatal drug exposure on a child is not known, however studies show that various drugs of abuse may result in premature birth, miscarriage, low birth weight, and a variety of behavioral and cognitive problems.

Drugs that may have adverse prenatal effects:

- Cocaine

- Heroin

- Inhalants

- Marijuana

- MDMA

- Methamphetamine

- Nicotine

Other Health Effects

In jail, Paul suffered through opiate withdrawal; he vomited, couldn't eat, and lost weight. He was taken to a treatment center on a stretcher. After three weeks of detoxification, Paul returned to face the medical board, which ordered him to turn in his medical license.

Source: Moyers on Addiction: Close to Home

In addition to the effects various drugs of abuse may have on specific organs of the body, many drugs produce global body changes such as dramatic changes in appetite and increases in body temperature, which may impact a variety of health conditions. Withdrawal from drug use also may lead to numerous adverse health effects, including restlessness, mood swings, fatigue, changes in appetite, muscle and bone pain, insomnia, cold flashes, diarrhea, and vomiting.

Drugs that have global adverse health effects:

- Cocaine

- Heroin

- Inhalants

- Marijuana

- MDMA

- Methamphetamine

- Nicotine

- Prescription CNS Depressants

- Prescription Opiates

- Prescription Stimulants

- Steroids

Mortality

In Memoriam—Donald H.

In a blink of an eye, you realize that drugs are really a part of your life. I thought that since I didn't do them, they could never hurt me. That is until last week when I received a call that someone I loved very much had overdosed. He was so smart, creative, funny and lovable. He was the person in my life who was always up to do whatever or go wherever. My heart will ache eternally.

- Whittney S.

Source: Partnership for a Drug-Free America®, www.drugfree.org

Drug-related deaths have more than doubled since the early 1980s. There are more deaths, illness, and disabilities from substance abuse than from any other preventable health condition. Today, one in four deaths is attributable to alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drug use.