Addiction to legal or illegal substances can, in some cases, lead to serious health problems. Some substances, such as alcohol and nicotine, are permitted beyond a certain age, but many people still struggle with addiction to these substances. Other substances, such as synthetic drugs or inhalants, can be very dangerous because their effects are unpredictable and dangerous to those who use them. At Gratitude Lodge people can come out from their addiction easily.
Health effects of drug and alcohol abuse
Drug or alcohol abuse can cause changes in brain chemistry. In addition, the substance is often processed by many different body systems. The health effects are clearly stated below.
- Infection and damage to the immune system
Other drugs also increase your risk of certain infections, such as B. upper respiratory tract infections caused by inhaled or inhaled drugs. The euphoria associated with lots of drinking, especially alcohol, cocaine, and drugs, can lower inhibitions and increase the likelihood of taking sexual risks and contracting an STD. Some drugs, such as cocaine, directly affect the immune system’s ability to make white blood cells, reducing the immune response to infection.
Experts estimate that about half of all adult pneumonia patients have a history of alcohol abuse. Patients with an alcohol problem and pneumococcal pneumonia have more severe complications and a higher mortality rate than patients with pneumonia who do not abuse alcohol. At Gratitude Lodge people can know what the things are going wrong in their life.
- Cardiovascular problems
Stimulants can increase the user’s heart rate, while CNS depressants can slow it down. Persistently high or low blood pressure can be associated with an increased risk of blood clots, ischemic damage, and other circulatory problems such as aortic or coronary artery dissection. Many narcotics can cause an irregular heart rhythm. Stimulants such as cocaine or methamphetamine can cause death from a heart attack if overdosed.
- Digestive problems
Drugs taken by mouth, such as alcohol or prescription drugs such as opioids or ADHD drugs, can damage the digestive system. Opioids can cause chronic constipation, and other substances can cause stomach upset, indigestion, nausea, or vomiting.
Chronic indigestion (for example, related to chronic alcohol use) is called gastrointestinal reflux disease (GERD), which can damage the esophagus and make eating certain foods painful. Vomiting that is often associated with substances can also damage the esophagus and cause malnutrition problems.
- Breathing problems
Smoking drugs can damage the air sacs in the lungs and make the upper airways more susceptible to infection. If a person overdoses on opioids or other CNS depressants, hypoxia can result in death; However, if a person has reduced breathing patterns or is depressed for a long time due to addiction, their body may also experience oxygen starvation, causing damage to other organs and systems. Chronic alcohol consumption is associated with an increased risk of community-acquired pneumonia, such as that caused by Streptococcus pneumonia.
- Liver damage
The liver is involved in the metabolism of nutrients, but it is also an important site for the detoxification of many types of substances consumed. In the face of persistently high concentrations of certain drugs, the liver can become overwhelmed with its metabolic tasks and organ tissues begin to decay. Alcohol, inhalants, heroin and steroids can quickly damage the liver and cause cirrhosis or hepatitis.
Alcohol in particular can cause a spectrum of liver disease, ranging from relatively mild (alcoholic steatohepatitis, the so-called fatty liver) to more severe inflammation (alcoholic hepatitis) to progressive fibrosis and scarring of the liver parenchyma (cirrhosis). Cirrhosis itself is a risk factor for developing liver cancer.
- Kidney damage
The kidneys also filter toxins from the bloodstream, making them vulnerable to a large number of harmful substances in the blood. Several drugs have been linked to a condition known as rhabdomyolysis, which is the breakdown of muscle tissue that floods the bloodstream with toxic levels of muscle cell contents, including a large protein known as myoglobin; As a result, the kidneys can be overloaded and unable to filter toxins effectively.
This can lead to progressive kidney damage leading to kidney failure requiring dialysis. Drugs such as heroin or other opioids that suppress breathing and reduce oxygen supply to the body can also cause kidney damage.
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