Jump to content
Objectivism Online Forum

Cocaine Use May Result in Heart Attack Symptoms in Youths

Rate this topic


Mammon

Recommended Posts

http://www.efluxmedia.com/news_Cocaine_Use...uths_15272.html

A new study by the American Heart Association warned Monday that cocaine use in young or otherwise healthy patients could sometimes cause heart attack symptoms like chest pain, shortness of breath, anxiety, palpitations, dizziness, nausea, heavy sweating and palpitations.

Cocaine use also results in increased blood pressure that can increase the risk of bleeding into the brain if a patient is given clot-busting drugs.

According to the government's Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the number of cocaine-related users visiting ERs rose 47 percent from 1995 to 2002, increasing from 135,711 to 199,198. The majority of these visits are of younger people, around the age of 35.

"More commonly, these are younger people. The most common age group is about 35 to 44 for patients who come to the emergency department after cocaine use, having chest pain," said Dr James McCord, cardiology director of the chest pain unit for the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit who headed the panel that drafted the AHA statement.

According to the AHA report, on most occasions, chest pain related to cocaine occurred within three hours of using the drug, but this is not always the case though, as cocaine can stay in the body for 18 or more hours after use, and still cause complications.

The report also urges doctors to ask young patients if they’ve recently used cocaine, as some heart attack treatments can be deadly to someone using cocaine. Two standard treatments for heart attacks, beta-blockers as well as well as clot-busting drugs are very dangerous when combined with cocaine use.

“Not knowing what you are dealing with and giving the wrong therapies could mean death rather than benefit,” said Dr. James Reiffel, professor of clinical medicine at Columbia University Medical Center/New York Presbyterian Hospital, the Associated Press reports.

Reiffel said doctors should explain why it’s important to know if a patient is using cocaine. He added that admitting use of an illegal substance is confidential information that won’t be reported to law enforcement.” The caregiver is not here to judge.”

However, Dr. McCord said that, while patients are in an observation unit, there is also an opportunity for healthcare providers to offer drug-cessation counseling.

"Currently, the level of drug counseling available in most observation units, particularly at night, amounts to a pamphlet on drug abuse and referral phone numbers. This is an area where we can do a better job. We should use that hospital visit as a teachable moment to educate these patients on how they can improve their health and offer them counseling and referral programs for drug cessation,” McCord said.

The AHA statement was published in the journal Circulation.

This is really ridiculous.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What is ridiculous, and why do you believe that it is ridiculous? I think it's true.

It's ridiculous that people do cocaine then go to their doctor! It's ridiculous people smoke cocaine in the first place, as if it didn't cause enough problems, now it gives the equivalent of a heart attack...

Edit: I think it's also interesting to see the age group that do the most cocaine 35-44. I guess only these people can afford enough of it?

Edited by Mammon
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's ridiculous that people do cocaine then go to their doctor! It's ridiculous people smoke cocaine in the first place, as if it didn't cause enough problems, now it gives the equivalent of a heart attack...
Okay; but if you're stupid enough do coke, then it would not be ridiculous to go the the doctor if you present with symptoms of a heart attack. It would be ridiculous if people didn't learn from the experience. They aren't clear if they claim there is a problem with people not learning the lesson.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, but the article said the doctors place "isn't to judge" (which is part of the ridiculousness). If I was the doctor I'd flat out say "stop doing cocaine or I'll stop treating you."

So would you (if you were a doctor) refuse to treat an alcoholic? A smoker? Someone who eats fatty foods? A sport parachutist that breaks a limb?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, but the article said the doctors place "isn't to judge" (which is part of the ridiculousness). If I was the doctor I'd flat out say "stop doing cocaine or I'll stop treating you."
Maybe, and maybe some doctors do that. The fact is that doctors are paid to repair bodies, and priests are paid to pass moral judgment. I'm sure that the doctor does judge, and he bears in mind what he does for a living and how acting like a snot to his customer would be detrimental to his central purpose in life.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

So would you (if you were a doctor) refuse to treat an alcoholic? A smoker? Someone who eats fatty foods? A sport parachutist that breaks a limb?

A doctor heals and repairs, if you keep doing that and the person keeps sabotaging your efforts, why deal with that person? Maybe, it's different. Maybe that's why I'm not a doctor.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So would you (if you were a doctor) refuse to treat an alcoholic? A smoker? Someone who eats fatty foods? A sport parachutist that breaks a limb?

I'm curious if you equate say, meth use, as morally equivalent to skydiving? If I read you post correctly, you appear to consider the above list of activities as having the same moral equivalence and should each be judged the same.

Can you see that one behavior is typically self-destructive while the other behavior simply has an element of risk involved?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A doctor heals and repairs, if you keep doing that and the person keeps sabotaging your efforts, why deal with that person? Maybe, it's different. Maybe that's why I'm not a doctor.

Just like a journalist must keep his sources confidential, and a lawyer must defend scumbags, a doctor has a professional obligation to treat all patients with the best of his abilities and keep personal judgments to himself. Imagine if every doctor's visit entailed a moralistic lecture on one's behavior and threats of refusing treatment.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A doctor heals and repairs, if you keep doing that and the person keeps sabotaging your efforts, why deal with that person? Maybe, it's different. Maybe that's why I'm not a doctor.

I suppose it depends on the doctor. Some will see it as a gold mine, others will be disappointed in their patients, others won't care one way or another.

Your question does remind me of a scene in "Liar Liar" where a client f Jim Carey's is arrested, again, and calls him for advice. His advice is: "Stop breaking the law, ***hole!"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...