A recent NIDA press release shows how it’s not just opioid addiction that is connected to endocarditis, but new studies show cocaine addiction increases the risk for potentially fatal heart disease too. These findings highlight how it’s not just the act of drug abuse itself that is dangerous; there are also the many potentially lethal health problems that might come up throughout the individual’s addiction, health problems that are a direct result of that drug abuse.

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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.

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