Use of Methamphetamine Linked to Comorbidities

Methamphetamine is a potent stimulant of the central nervous system. Researchers say that methamphetamine users are at higher risk of developing multiple medical conditions.

Researchers say that people using methamphetamine are at greater risk for developing multiple health conditions, mental illness, and substance use disorders than those who are not using it.

The study was performed at the Centre for Drug Use and HIV/HCV Research (CDUHR) at NYU School of Global Public Health whose outcomes have been published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine .

Drug Abuse | Drug Addiction | Substance Abuse - Overview
The use of Drugs for reasons other than its prescribed recommendation, is known as Drug abuse or substance abuse. Drug abuse or substance abuse is initiated by various biological and social factors.

‘People who use methamphetamine are two times more likely to develop multiple medical conditions and four times more likely to report substance use disorders than those who don't use it.’

Methamphetamine is a potent stimulant of the central nervous system. They are most commonly used as recreational drugs but are sometimes used as second-line treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and obesity.

"Methamphetamine use adds complexity to the already challenging care of adults who have multiple chronic conditions. Integrated interventions that can address the multiple conditions people are living with, along with associated social risks, are needed for this population,” said Han, who is a CDUHR researcher.

Researchers used the data from the 2015-2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, a nationally representative survey of U.S. adults, and found that

Impact of Drug Abuse on Health and Society
Drug abuse is a negative social trend that pushes youth to drug addiction in the pretext of getting psychological effects like excitation.

• People who used methamphetamine possessed nearly twice the odds to develop multiple chronic medical conditions and thrice the odds to develop a mental illness than those who did not use it.

• Methamphetamine users were also four times as likely to have a substance use disorder. It is highlighted that the users of this drug pose a higher likelihood of developing substance use disorders than any other drug considered for the study such as heroin, prescription stimulants, prescription opioids, cocaine, and sedatives.

Bitter Pill: Thrills That Kill - Drug Abuse
Nearly one in five Americans reportedly use prescription painkillers to experience an instant high. This could lead to the drug abuser turning entirely dependent on the contents of the drug.

• Many users had a concurrent prevalence of a combination of medical, mental, and substance use issues.

• Higher prevalence of liver diseases, lung diseases, and HIV/AIDS were associated with the use of methamphetamine.

Quiz on Drug Abuse
Drug abuse often starts with experimentation of a drug and results in problems at home, workplace and in relationships. Take this quiz to test your knowledge on drug abuse.

"Our results certainly do not suggest that meth use causes most of these conditions, but they should inform clinicians that this population is at risk. Future studies are needed to determine how dose and frequency of use relate to these conditions--for instance, occasional use on a night out versus chronic use that can lead to a host of adverse effects on the body," said study author Joseph Palamar, Ph.D., an associate professor of population health at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and a CDUHR researcher.

Source-Medindia