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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Young adults who use cocaine and amphetamines are significantly increasing their risk for stroke.
A new study reveals people ages 18 to 44 who use cocaine have double the risk of having either an ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke. Ischemic strokes are caused by a blockage in the arteries that goes to the brain. Hemorrhagic strokes are caused by bleeding the brain.
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People who used amphetamines -- including methamphetamines, or "meth" -- were five- times more likely than those who didn't to have a hemorrhagic stroke.
The research is based on data collected on both types of stroke at more than 500 Texas hospitals since 2003, when all hospitals were required to begin reporting such data.
The data also suggest more than 14 percent of both types of stroke are caused by some sort of drug abuse, from amphetamines and cocaine to marijuana and even tobacco.
The findings on methamphetamines are especially worrisome, however, as it is increasingly becoming the drug of choice among younger people, who may not realize how deadly it can be.
"This is the first study large enough to confirm the link that meth kills by causing strokes," writes study author Robert Haley, M.D., from UT Southwestern in Dallas. "We hope that our findings will lead to getting the word out to young people who are tempted to use meth, explaining that the drug is extremely dangerous and can kill them."
Researchers believe amphetamines and other drugs may raise the risk of stroke by raising blood pressure or causing the blood vessels to narrow, which could lead to spasms in the vessel walls.
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, which offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, click on: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
SOURCE: Archives of General Psychiatry published online April 2, 2007
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