Of course, taking care of your health should be a major priority, and while accidents and mishaps happen on occasion, you should still do your best to stay informed of the major health consequences that come with making particular decisions. While there are many drugs available for use by prescription for health purposes, some of the most insidious health problems can come from taking illegal drugs like heroin. Not restricted to only causing either physical or psychological problems, heroin is an illegal drug with a large number of dangerous side effects that you should be aware of.
Abusing drugs like heroin is detrimental to your physical health as well as your mental health. Deep vein thrombosis is a condition characterized by the clotting of blood in a deeply-placed vein in the body and it is one of the effects that heroin, or any opioid drug for that matter, can have on people.
Deep vein thrombosis is a major health risk because that clot can dislodge, travel to the lungs through the circulatory system, and then block blood flow in those lungs which then results in what is called a pulmonary embolism. Other problems common to heroin use include blood and soft tissue infections, scarred veins and heart valves amongst others. There can be additional health problems associated with social drug use; sharing injection needles can be a vector for bloodborne diseases like HIV and a couple of different forms of hepatitis which are usually only considered to be STDs.
Some people may even be at greater risk for extreme negative effects as a result of genetic vulnerabilities. Having a mutation in the genome like Factor v Leiden can make it more likely for you to suffer heart problems at some point, and people with a predisposition toward an addictive personality wouldn’t be done any favors either. While these issues are not the fault of the affected person, they should nonetheless take these factors into account lest they encounter problems that other people are less likely to.
Drug addiction is one of the most known side effects of abusing illegal substances, and this reputation is not unfounded. Heroin is a highly addictive substance, and the habits that form around potent addictive substances can be a major hindrance in your life. These habits are not merely self-discipline issues, either, because opioids like heroin can affect how your brain is structured.
An addict who has abused a drug like heroin enough will eventually suffer withdrawal if they fail to take it, and this can lead to a potentially life-threatening situation if the withdrawal symptoms are bad enough. For this reason, if someone is suffering from drug addiction and/or acute withdrawal symptoms it would be in their best interest to seek medical help and subsequent aftercare for addicition to help them deal with the problem as efficiently and safely as possible. This isn’t to say that genetic factors are the sole reason someone might be predisposed toward excessive addiction susceptibility as there are environmental factors to consider as well, but the result, in either case, can be similarly devastating.
In short, using heroin is never worth it. Individually, the physical and mental health effects of heroin abuse are devastating enough but taken together they can cause a massive problem. It doesn’t help that the substance is addictive, either, and this makes for a difficult situation if someone finds themselves addicted. Whether you or someone you know are suffering from the effects of heroin or you simply want to stay informed, there is no shame in researching the potential pitfalls of this deadly drug.
Leave a Reply