With the accumulating evidence of cocaine’s deleterious effect and the introduction and widespread use of cocaine, the public and government have become alarmed again its growing use. To many American’s especially health care and socials workers who deal with cocaine users and have witnessed the personal and societal devastation it produces, cocaine addiction is by far the most serious drug problem in the United States.

Cocaine use increases the risk of sudden heart attack and may also trigger stroke, even in user who otherwise are not at high risk for these sometime fatal cardiovascular events. The risk is related to narrowing of blood vessels and increase in blood pressure and heart rate.

Recently, NIDA-supported researchers at Alcohol and Drug Abuse Research Center at Mclean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts, have identified changed in blood components that may also play a role in cocaine-related heart attack and stroke.

The physical effects of cocaine addiction include but are not limited to:
• Changes in blood pressure, heart, and breathing rates
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Anxiety
• Convulsions
• Insomnia
• Loss of appetite leading to malnutrition and weight loss
• Cold sweats
• Swelling and bleeding of mucous membranes
• Restlessness and anxiety
• Damage to nasal cavities
• Damage to lungs
• Possible heart attacks, stroke, or convulsions.

Original post by Frisna