A joint research* by the UPV/EHU, the Basque Institute of Legal Medicine and the Center for Biomedical Research in Mental Health Network (CIBERSAM), of the Carlos III Health Institute, has linked for the first time the increased risk of sudden cardiovascular death with recent cocaine consumption.
Cocaine use is the leading risk factor for death of vascular origin in subjects under 50 years of age. In fact, the risk of suffering a vascular accident quadruples.
Analysis of the data shows that cocaine consumption multiplies the risk of death fourfold compared to non-consumption.
Another risk factor detected was sex: men had a 1.6 times higher risk than women.
The research group therefore believes that the effects of cocaine on the cardiovascular system could explain the increased risk of sudden death in users of this drug.
Symptoms caused by cocaine
Cocaine causes:
- Increased heart rate
- Increased blood pressure
- Contractility of the heart’s left ventricle
- Myocardial oxygen demand
- Decreased coronary blood flow (related to thrombus formation and cardiac arrhythmias)
- Increased ventricular irritability
- Decreased fibrillation threshold.
Consequently, sudden death could be considered as the first manifestation of a previously undiagnosed silent cardiovascular disease.
When consuming cocaine, the person feels the effects immediately. This produces several positive reinforcements, which is what will induce the person to consume again. It is possible to highlight the sensations of:
- Euphoria
- Excitement
- Self-confidence
The rapid psychic dependence that can develop to this drug is due, on the one hand, to the rapidity of the effect it has on the organism and, on the other hand, the confidence, stamina and verbosity it produces.
Cocaine also causes a lack of appetite and a decrease in the need for sleep. When these primary effects disappear, another stage in the cocaine process arises, generating other states, one of them is the extreme tiredness it produces, Neuroasthenic picture.
Long-term cocaine consumption reduces brain activity, producing a depressive syndrome, which is resolved when the patient returns to using the substance.
Cocaine dependence is very strong even if the patient does not present physical dependence. The psychological addiction it generates is very high and difficult to bear, which makes the treatment complicated and the patient has many relapses.
The psychological problems caused by the excessive consumption of cocaine are:
- Depression
- Insomnia
- Apathy
- Irritability
- Anxiety
- Mood disorders
- Paranoia
In the chronic consumption of the substance, alterations in social relationships are frequent. In addition, its users also suffer from alterations in sexual function.
*This study is the first to be carried out on forensic samples of deceased persons. Thus, all the sudden deaths that were subject to forensic analysis in Bizkaia during seven years, between January 2003 and December 2009, were examined. The autopsies were performed by the only existing service in the territory: the Forensic Pathology Service of Bizkaia of the Basque Institute of Legal Medicine. The research has been published in the specialized journal Addiction, the second most important international journal in the field of addictions, where a total of 20 journals are registered.
Doctors Benito Morentin, Javier Ballesteros, Luis Felipe Callado and José Javier Meana have analyzed the cases of 437 people who died of sudden cardiovascular death and whose death was not due to the disease or to acute intoxication. To carry out their research, they also studied the cases of 126 other people who died of different causes.