Strokes Linked to Cocaine, Amphetamine Abuse

People who use cocaine and amphetamine may be at a higher risk of having a stroke, according to a study of three million hospital discharges in Texas. Amphetamine use increased the risk of having a hemorrhagic stroke by five times, while cocaine use doubled the risk of stroke.

"Evidence has been accumulating for two decades supporting a link between abuse of stimulant drugs and strokes in young people," said lead author, Arthur N. Westover, M.D., in a news release. "Cocaine, amphetamines and other stimulants may increase the risk of stroke by raising blood pressure or contributing to narrowing blood vessels by triggering spasms in the vessel walls."

The researchers used a database of 3,148,165 discharges from Texas hospitals between 2000 and 2003 to assess the link between drug use and strokes. In the four-year period, there were 8,369 strokes: 1,887 in 2000, 2,097 in 2001, 2,133 in 2002 and 2,252 in 2003.

Higher Risk of Death

"In 2003 -- the only year that codes identified the difference between hemorrhagic (bleeding within the brain) and ischemic (blocked blood flow to the brain) strokes -- amphetamine abuse was associated with a five-fold greater risk of hemorrhagic stroke but not ischemic stroke. Cocaine abuse was associated with more than double the risk of both hemorrhagic and ischemic stroke. Amphetamine, but not cocaine, abuse was associated with a higher risk of death after hemorrhagic stroke," Westover wrote.

"The public health implications of these findings are heightened by growing news accounts suggesting a recent increase in methamphetamine abuse, particularly in the southwestern, western and Midwestern states," the study concluded. "This concern was supported by our finding that, among hospitalized patients in Texas from 2000 to 2003, the rate of amphetamine abuse was increasing faster than that of any other drug, including cocaine, and the rate of strokes among amphetamine abusers was increasing faster than the rate of strokes among abusers of any other drug."

The study was published in the in the April 2007 issue of Archives of General Psychiatry.

More Information:

• Strokes May Be Associated With Cocaine and Amphetamine Abuse
  
• The Health Effects of Methamphetamine
  
• The Health Effects of Cocaine

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