How Cocaine Impacts Lung Health
The respiratory system’s main function is to help us inhale oxygen and release carbon dioxide. The lungs are the main organs in the respiratory system. When lung health is compromised, it can lead to a variety of problems. Respiratory disorders can be caused by a range of conditions, including the common cold, viruses, heart disease, and more. Drug abuse is also a common cause of lung disease. While there’s plenty of research on the effects of cocaine on the heart, we wanted to give insight into another less commonly answered question: how does cocaine affect the lungs?
How Does Cocaine Work?
Our luxury drug and alcohol rehab in South Florida is very familiar with the effects of cocaine abuse on the body. Cocaine is a powerful stimulant that works by targeting the central nervous system, starting at the brain. It targets the brain’s reward system, also referred to as its mesolimbic dopamine system.
This system can be activated by a variety of stimuli, including food, sex, and especially drugs. When activated, this reward system releases dopamine, which is a neurotransmitter that plays a role in regulating mood and emotion.
It also sends signals from one neuron to another. Smoking cocaine allows it to bind itself to dopamine transporters, blocking the release of dopamine. This causes a build-up that amplifies communication between neurons.
The effects of smoking cocaine also include:
- Increased heart rate
- Contracted blood vessels
- High blood pressure
- Insomnia
- Psychosis
- Tooth decay
- Liver and kidney damage
- Hallucinations
- Convulsions
- Seizures
- Depression
- Heart attack
- Chest pains
- Infertility
- Delirium
- Addiction
As dangerous as cocaine is, users will continue to abuse it because they develop a physical dependency.
The effects of cocaine on the brain include dopamine build-up, which causes feelings of euphoria and pleasure. Users become hooked on these feelings; however, the longer they use cocaine, the more tolerant they may become.
As this tolerance develops, they may have to ingest a higher dose to experience the same side effects.
The effects of smoking crack cocaine can be life-threatening. Fortunately, help is available. At Seaside Palm Beach, we offer a luxury detox program that provides patients with 24-hour care and medical assistance for their withdrawal symptoms. Detox treatment is often the first step in treating addiction for many of our patients.
Effects Of Cocaine On the Lungs
So, how does cocaine affect the lungs? The pulmonary effects of cocaine can range from mild to severe. Cocaine affects the lungs by constricting veins, arteries, and capillaries in the vascular system. This can cause the lining of the arteries and cellular walls of organs like the lungs to harden. The hardening of these areas can lead to respiratory problems and even death.
Cocaine smoking effects on the lungs also include:
- Hemorrhages, ruptured veins and arteries in the lungs
- Pulmonary edema, swelling of the lungs
- Increased risk of developing pulmonary diseases like pneumonia, bronchitis, and emphysema
- Hardened lungs
- Hardened arteries, veins, and capillaries
- Blood supply to the lungs is cut off
Regardless of how it’s ingested, the long-term effects of cocaine on the body, specifically on the respiratory system, can be life-threatening.
The Alarming Rise of Cocaine Overdose Deaths in the US
The opioid epidemic has been drawing the attention of media outlets, but it is not the only drug to be concerned about. While cocaine has long been an abused drug, the buzz surrounding this drug may be overshadowed and appear to die down, but this is not the case. As a luxury residential rehab center, we know that unfortunately, cocaine abuse isn’t going anywhere any time soon and its effects can be deadly.
The Recent Increase in Cocaine Overdose Deaths
The effects of cocaine on the body are dangerous alone, but more recently people are overdosing on this drug at a higher rate. While the United States has been struggling to deal with the opioid epidemic, cocaine overdose deaths have been rising.
In 2018, the number of drug overdose deaths in the United States as a whole decreased for the first time since 1999. While this number is thankfully starting to go down because of local, state, and federal efforts, it was accompanied by rising cocaine overdose deaths in more recent years.
This rise has also been quite steady as well. From 2012 to 2018, there was an average increase of 30% from year to year. While many people have been distracted by opioids alone, cocaine is a growing concern.
By 2018, the rising cocaine overdose deaths surpassed those of natural opioids and were close to bypassing heroin overdose deaths.
While this statistic is alarming enough, opioids may also be part of the problem. Cocaine overdose deaths are highest when an opioid is involved. Also in 2016, the number of cocaine overdose deaths involving other synthetic narcotics surpassed the number of overdose deaths from cocaine alone.
These numbers suggest that people are mixing cocaine with other drugs more frequently than before and the results are fatal.
What to Do About Rising Cocaine Overdose Deaths
The United States has been so focused on combating the opioid crisis that cocaine abuse has been neglected. While the efforts put forth for the opioid crisis appear to finally be working, there is still a long way to go. In order to prevent a cocaine crisis from occurring, government officials should take action now before the problem grows. Preventative measures and cocaine education should be implemented as well as getting people into a standard or luxury PHP and other treatment programs.
At Seaside Palm Beach, we work with patients who struggle with both cocaine and opioid abuse. Both can have serious long-term consequences and should be treated sooner rather than later. If you or someone you care about has a substance abuse disorder, get help before the problems get worse. By calling 561-677-9374, you can get connected with an admissions specialist and get more details about our programs.
The Path to a Better Life
I entered addiction treatment about a year after I started abusing cocaine. It was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make; but when it got to the point of life and death, I knew I had to do something. I started doing coke once or twice a month as an escape. It was something to do, it made me feel incredible, and I always made sure I knew who I was buying from. My friends could all seem to turn their coke use on and off, like a faucet, but I just wasn’t able to give it up.
Eventually, my friends started to worry about me, and after seeing that I was more or less a lost cause, just shut me out of their lives altogether. It only took a year for coke to completely turn things upside-down. I was going to work high and pretty soon all of my colleagues started to suspect it. I was incredibly high up in my company for a person of my age, and couldn’t risk my co-workers finding out that I had a drug problem, so I tried to hide it as best I could. It never got to the point in which I was doing lines in the men’s room or anything, but pretty soon everything in my life became about coke.
After a while, I contemplated getting help for my coke habit but didn’t think I could handle the detox process. I kept looking for quick fixes, like a place where they could knock me out for a few days and I’d wake up with no withdrawal symptoms. Eventually, I had to face facts and realize that there was no substitute for just going through the process. I entered a luxury detox facility in Florida and was incredibly surprised with how well I was treated and how smoothly my detox went; I had heard that residential detox was one of the most frightening things a person could experience.
My doctors and nurses were very supportive and did everything they could to keep me comfortable. There were times when it felt like I was going to crawl out of my skin or that my nose was going to fall off, but it was only a fraction as dreadful as I thought it was going to be. I thought the term “luxury” was more or less window-dressing, but I’d never felt more taken care of than I did when I was in treatment. When I got clean, I entered a rehab program and started seeing a therapist—it’s helped me process a lot of what I did to myself and the people I care about.
I’m grateful beyond measure that I only lost a year of my life to addiction and that I was able to get myself back on track. There’s no telling where I would have wound up if I didn’t recognize my problem and seek the proper care. I still experience urges, but every time I think about using again, I think back to what I almost lost and what I almost became. That is usually enough of a deterrent to keep me going. If you don’t think treatment works, or that you’re doomed to a life of permanent addiction, take it from me, there’s a way out.
