Health Issues and Drug Addiction

Drug Abuse and Mental Health
Impact of Drug Abuse on the Body
Drug Users Risk Getting Infectious Diseases
Drug and Alcohol Screening Test

Health issues associated with drug addiction are complex, negative, and severe. Drug addiction affects not only the physical and psychological well-being of the drug user, but also those closest to the individual. Drug addiction also disrupts the community on many levels. Costs stemming from the health issues of drug addiction are high, as addiction is linked to the spread of serious infectious diseases, such as AIDS, hepatitis, and tuberculosis.

Additional facts:

Four out of ten deaths are related to drug abuse
40 million people suffer annually from illnesses or injuries as a result of drug abuse
A 2009 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) study found that 22.5 million Americans aged 12 and older were classified as substance abuse dependent

Drug Abuse and Mental Health

Teens and Adolescence

The brain develops during a young person’s adolescence and teenage years. Parts of the brain responsible for making decisions, regulating emotions, and controlling desires are extremely vulnerable to permanent damage from drug abuse during this period. Mental health disorders and their symptoms begin to emerge during the late teens and early twenties. Drug use can bring on or worsen the symptoms of a disorder. Drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, ecstasy, and amphetamine cause brain damage. The brain may take years to recover, and may not ever recover completely.

Use of illicit drugs and use of prescription drugs for nonmedical purposes disrupts the ability of young adults and teens to comprehend and respond to complex thinking processes, to learn new facts, disrupts brain functioning resulting in confusion, disorientation, memory disruptions, and or emotional stability.

Adults

There is no longer any question that drug addiction is considered a disease of the mind and body. Recent research has found that people have different levels of neurotransmitters (serotonin, dopamine, etc.), and these varying levels hold a key to addictive behavior.

Despite this reality, constant use of drugs and alcohol influences a person’s psychological and psychosocial make up. A downward spiral in a person’s mental, physical, and emotional health is a progression associated with ongoing drug use.

Impact of Drug Abuse on the Body

Side effects occur when taking any medication, whether prescribed or not. According to SAMHSA, classification of health issues related to substance abuse can be divided into three categories:

Alcohol and drug abuse as a causal or contributing factor to illness, injury, or the transmission of infectious disease (for example, cocaine-induced myocardial infraction, substance-related cardio and skeletal myopathy, and alcohol-induced bone loss)

Alcohol and drug abuse as an exacerbating factor to a non-substance-related illness (for example, abdominal pain, diabetes, and epilepsy)

Alcohol and drug abuse as a complicating factor in treatment or patient compliance (for example, asthma, diabetes, and tuberculosis)
(http://coce.samhsa.gov/cod_resources/PDF/PhysicalHealthQuickFacts.pdf)

Drugs such as cocaine and crack can cause headaches, abdominal pain, nausea, nosebleeds, and hoarseness. Ingesting cocaine is linked to bowel gangrene, heart attack, and stroke.

Substance abuse disorders are often chronic and progress slowly. Physical signs vary, and include:

General

Dental
Swollen hands or feet
Swollen parotid glands (salivary glands)
Gingivitis
Perforate septum
Needle marks
Skin abscesses, burns on inside of lips
Disrupted menstrual cycle

Other symptoms

Insomnia or sleep disturbances
Agitation
Memory loss, “black outs”

Psychiatric

Depression
Anxiety
Low self-esteem
Feeling of desperation
Feeling a lack of control over one’s life
(SAMHSA, TIP # 24, pp.8-9)

Drug Users Risk Getting Infectious Diseases

Drug users often exhibit high risk behavior regardless of the type of drug they may be using. The spread of HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) and AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) are often contracted because of high-risk sexual behaviors. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, “among drug users, HIV transmission can occur through sharing needles and other injection paraphernalia, such as cotton swabs, rinse water, and cookers…Drugs and alcohol can interfere with judgment and can lead to risky sexual behaviors…” (http://drugabuse.gov/infofacts/DrugAbuse.html) Therefore drug abusers are susceptible to hepatitis c (liver disease), hepatitis b, syphilis, chlamydia, skin infections, bacterial and viral infections, pneumonia, and endocarditis.

The chart below illustrates the problem only as it relates to new infections of HIV.

Data and Statistics

While men having sex with men (MSM) make up the majority of new HIV infections, Injection Drug Users (IDU) accounted for a significant 12% of new cases in 2006. (http://www.cdc.gov/pwud/)

Drug and Alcohol Screening Test

Read each question and circle yes or no
Please answer honestly!

Do you use substances (alcohol or drugs) more than once a week?
Yes / No
Do you promise yourself or others you will cut down on how much you drink or drug?
Yes / No
Do you get annoyed when others tell you that you drink or use drugs too much?
Yes / No
Do you feel guilty after drinking alcohol or using drugs?
Yes / No
Do you need to use substances to get yourself going in the morning, or to go to sleep at night?
Yes / No
Have you ever promised yourself that you would stop using alcohol or drugs but were unable to keep your promise?
Yes / No
Have you ever missed work because of drinking or drug use?
Yes / No
Have you ever forgotten what you did the night before when you were drinking or using drugs?
Yes / No
Do you feel like you need to use substances to make yourself feel better?
Yes / No
Do you have cravings (a strong emotional need or physical need) to drink or use drugs?
Yes / No
Have you ever gotten into trouble with the law after drinking alcohol or using drugs?
Yes / No
Do you need to drink more and more or use higher dosages of drugs to get drunk or feel high?
Yes / No
Do you spend more money than you can afford on alcohol or drugs?
Yes / No
Do you find yourself taking risks that you would never take if you were not under the influence of drugs or alcohol?
Yes / No
When you abstain from using substance (alcohol or drugs), does your mood change?
Yes / No

If you answered yes to two or more questions, you may want to speak to your primary physician about alcohol or drug abuse, addiction and dependence.