How Does Cocaine Affect Your Heart?

Cocaine is one of the most lethal drugs available. Drug Treatment Center doctors know it causes major heart problems for users, but these patients may be unaware of the enormous risk to their heart when they ingest the drug. Drug detox is imperative when a user has crossed the line into addiction, and generally it is not until after drug detox that Drug Treatment Center doctors will reveal all the implications of the user’s abuse to their patient.

Ventricular arrhythmias and myocardial infarction are two common heart problems associated with cocaine abuse. The actual mechanisms of the toxic cardiovascular effects are not specifically known to doctors, but some drug treatment center physicians and scientists believe cocaine causes increased platelet aggregation that contributes to blood clots. The mechanisms for the cardiotoxic effects remain somewhat unclear.

Some of the proposed mechanisms include cocaine-induced diffuse or local coronary spasm in normal or atherosclerotic arteries. Cocaine abuse increases platelet aggregation contributing to blood clot formation. The drug increases the body’s demand for oxygen as well, because it increases the user’s heart rate and blood pressure. Additionally, it affects the architecture of the heart’s muscle. Repetitive spasms can occur in regular users. After a user has undergone drug detox, it is important that they understand that these spasms can cause long-term heart problems and even death by cardiac arrest. Drug Treatment Centers hope that the truth about the physical implications of cocaine use will be sufficient knowledge for patients to desire total abstinence from cocaine after they have undergone drug detox.