Wednesday, August 10, 2022
Germany Latest News
  • Sports
  • USA
  • Asia
  • Health
  • Life Style
  • Tech
  • Science
  • Latin America
  • Africa
  • Europe
No Result
View All Result
Germany Latest News
Home Health

Is Meth Use Destroying Vets’ Hearts?

by The Editor
November 15, 2017
in Health
0
Is Meth Use Destroying Vets’ Hearts?
0
SHARES
4
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Related posts

US follows UK’s lead and shortens isolation for healthcare workers who test positive for Covid-19

US follows UK’s lead and shortens isolation for healthcare workers who test positive for Covid-19

December 24, 2021
Covid booster jab triggers immune response in days, not weeks, say scientists

Covid booster jab triggers immune response in days, not weeks, say scientists

December 20, 2021

TUESDAY, Nov. 14, 2017 (HealthDay News) — Methamphetamine appears to be damaging the hearts of U.S. military veterans at an increasing rate, researchers report.

Heart failure cases linked to meth use among vets nearly quadrupled during the past decade at the San Diego VA Medical Center, rising from 1.7 percent in 2005 to 8 percent in 2015, investigators found.

Veterans using meth also tended to develop heart failure at a much younger age, around 61, on average, compared with 72 for typical heart failure patients, said lead researcher Dr. Marin Nishimura. She is an internal medicine resident with the University of California, San Diego.

"When we see a younger individual who comes to the hospital with heart failure, we should be thinking about meth use," Nishimura said.

Heart failure is a chronic and progressive condition in which the heart gradually loses the ability to pump enough blood to meet the body's needs, according to the American Heart Association (AHA).

Nishimura and her team decided to investigate the toll meth takes on veterans' hearts after noticing more patients with methamphetamine-related heart failure coming in for treatment at the VA Medical Center.

The researchers reviewed records for nearly 9,600 vets diagnosed with heart failure at the San Diego center between 2005 and 2015. Among those, 480 were found to have a history of meth abuse, based on the results from urine tests during treatment.

"We can't say all of these patients had methamphetamine-induced heart failure, but these are cases where people were using methamphetamine and developed heart failure," Nishimura said.

Although the study does not prove that meth use caused heart failure in these patients, it does offer some evidence supporting meth-related heart damage.

Among heart failure patients, meth users were less likely to have blocked arteries or an irregular heartbeat condition known as atrial fibrillation than non-meth users, the researchers found.

Meth, cocaine and other stimulants "are really direct cardiac toxins," doing immediate harm to the heart, said Dr. Mary Walsh, president of the American College of Cardiology. She is also the medical director of heart failure and cardiac transplantation at St. Vincent Heart Center of Indiana.

"Meth clearly alone without any other factors can lead to heart disease and heart failure, and for people at risk of heart failure it can worsen symptoms," Walsh said. "All of us in every hospital in the United States have seen that."

Nishimura added that meth also might contribute to heart failure by causing surges of adrenaline and its related hormones, or by doing damage to small blood vessels.

Meth users were twice as likely as regular heart failure patients to visit the emergency department, and they were six times more likely to seek psychiatric care. They also tended to exhibit more substance abuse and psychiatric problems like post-traumatic stress disorder, the findings showed.

Doctors treating a younger patient with heart failure should consider doing a urine screen to see if they're using meth, Nishimura suggested.

However, doctors have to act promptly — Nishimura noted that meth filters out of the body within about a day of last use.

"Oftentimes, we focus on other traditional risk factors when treating heart failure," she said. "Maybe drug use should also be explored."

Nishimura pointed out that this study focused only on San Diego vets, and needs to be replicated elsewhere to see whether the problem is widespread.

The findings were to be presented Tuesday at the AHA's annual meeting in Anaheim, Calif. Research presented at meetings is considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

More information

For more on drug abuse and heart disease, visit the American Heart Association.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Original Article

Health

Previous Post

With Stress and Trauma Come Excess Weight

Next Post

Speeding games on MLB agenda for next season

Next Post
Speeding games on MLB agenda for next season

Speeding games on MLB agenda for next season

RECOMMENDED NEWS

Colombia investigates death of key corruption case witness

Colombia investigates death of key corruption case witness

4 years ago
UK to control the numbers and type of people coming in after Brexit

UK to control the numbers and type of people coming in after Brexit

4 years ago
Barbados elects Mia Mottley as first woman PM

Barbados elects Mia Mottley as first woman PM

4 years ago
EUs health care tug of war

EUs health care tug of war

4 years ago

FOLLOW US

  • 116 Followers
  • 86.8k Followers
  • 166k Subscribers

BROWSE BY CATEGORIES

  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Health
  • latest news
  • Latin America
  • Life Style
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Tech
  • Uncategorized
  • USA

BROWSE BY TOPICS

2018 League Bali United Beijing BlackBerry Brazil Budget Travel Bundesliga California Champions League Chelsea China Chopper Bike Coronavirus COVID COVID-19 Crime Doctor Terawan EU forces France French German GISAID Istana Negara Italy Lewandowski Lionel Messi Market Stories Mexico National Exam Nigeria Omicron Pakistan Police protect protests Qatar Russia slapstick South Africans TikTok Trump UK Ukraine Visit Bali
No Result
View All Result

Recent Posts

  • Dominican Republic environment minister shot dead in his office
  • France puts 18 on trial over alleged involvement in vast horsemeat scandal
  • North Korea fires ballistic missiles a day after US-South Korean naval drills
  • Nigeria: town mourns more than 50 people shot dead in church during mass
  • Death toll rises after train crash in Bavaria

Categories

  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Health
  • latest news
  • Latin America
  • Life Style
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Tech
  • Uncategorized
  • USA

Tags

2018 League Bali United Beijing BlackBerry Brazil Budget Travel Bundesliga California Champions League Chelsea China Chopper Bike Coronavirus COVID COVID-19 Crime Doctor Terawan EU forces France French German GISAID Istana Negara Italy Lewandowski Lionel Messi Market Stories Mexico National Exam Nigeria Omicron Pakistan Police protect protests Qatar Russia slapstick South Africans TikTok Trump UK Ukraine Visit Bali
Death toll rises after train crash in Bavaria
latest news

Death toll rises after train crash in Bavaria

by The Editor
June 6, 2022
0

Several people were killed and 40 more were injured on Friday when a regional passenger train derailed in the southern German...

Read more

Recent News

  • Dominican Republic environment minister shot dead in his office
  • France puts 18 on trial over alleged involvement in vast horsemeat scandal
  • North Korea fires ballistic missiles a day after US-South Korean naval drills

Category

  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Health
  • latest news
  • Latin America
  • Life Style
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Tech
  • Uncategorized
  • USA

Recent News

Dominican Republic environment minister shot dead in his office

Dominican Republic environment minister shot dead in his office

June 6, 2022
France puts 18 on trial over alleged involvement in vast horsemeat scandal

France puts 18 on trial over alleged involvement in vast horsemeat scandal

June 6, 2022
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Careers
  • Contact

© 2022 JNews - Premium WordPress news & magazine theme by Jegtheme.

No Result
View All Result
  • Sports
  • USA
  • Asia
  • Health
  • Life Style
  • Tech
  • Science
  • Latin America
  • Africa
  • Europe

© 2022 JNews - Premium WordPress news & magazine theme by Jegtheme.