Cocaine is Bad for One’s Heart – in More Ways than One

Cocaine Affects the Heart

An article on the American Heart Association’s website outlines the various ways that cocaine is destructive for a user’s heart. According to the article “The Effects of Acute and Chronic Cocaine Use on the Heart,” cocaine is toxic to the heart muscle. It reduces the ability of the heart muscle to contract, and therefore pump blood. The heart muscle will receive less oxygen and this can lead to the death of some heart tissue. Even young cocaine users may suffer damage similar to that of a heart attack which can be hard for medical staff to understand since the risk factors for heart attack might not seem to be present.

Cocaine can also accelerate the buildup of plaque inside the arteries, leading to atherosclerosis. Direct damage to some types of heart muscle cells can lead to cardiomyopathy, where the heart becomes abnormally enlarged, thickened or stiffened, leading to less efficiency.

Overall, cocaine is a very bad choice for anyone wishing to preserve the health of his or her heart. But of course, when a person becomes addicted to cocaine, the damage extends far beyond cardiac effects.

One’s Emotional Heart Also Takes a Hit

When a person becomes addicted, it seems like the addiction makes the decisions instead of the individual. An addict becomes consumed with the necessity to acquire more of the drug he or she is addicted to before withdrawal symptoms kick in. This becomes more important than caring for his health, family, job or home. This abandonment of values is heartbreaking for the addict and only continued abuse of the drug makes life seem livable.

Financial ruin can follow cocaine addiction because of the high cost of the powder form of the drug. When crack cocaine is the drug of choice, healthful lifestyles are very often abandoned for whatever lifestyle will provide the drug, which can include prostitution or crime. But effective cocaine addiction rehab can turn this situation around.

The Narconon Drug Recovery Program Provides Effective Cocaine Addiction Rehab

Even those who have been addicted for years or decades can find rehabilitation at a Narconon drug rehab center. The innovative Narconon treatment program offers a sauna-based detoxification program that helps reduce or even eliminate cravings. Each person going through cocaine addiction rehab at Narconon is guided through this process of time spent daily in a low-heat sauna, an exact nutritional program and moderate exercise. This combination activates the body’s ability to flush out old stored drug toxins. When these toxins remain lodged in fatty tissues, they can be involved in the triggering of cravings, even years after drug use stops. When the toxins are gone, brightness increases and cravings decrease.

Recovery of one’s true love for life – and thus repair to the less-physical heart damage – comes from recovery of one’s personal integrity and self respect. Cocaine addiction rehab would be incomplete without emotional repair as well. The Narconon program offers life skills training that shows each person how they can regain respect for self and others and then guides them through the healing process.

Cocaine Recovery Help

Around the world, Narconon centers provide lasting recovery from cocaine addiction as well as addiction to many other drugs. Find out more today by contacting Narconon.


Resources:

http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/85/2/407