Medical Complications of Drug Taking PDF

Medical Complication of Drug-Taking Medical Complication of Drug-Taking General and socio-economic aspects Illicit drug use is associated with a multitude of serious adverse health, social and economic consequences. Can be categorized as 1. Health outcomes 2. Specific health ou...

Medical Complication of Drug-Taking Medical Complication of Drug-Taking General and socio-economic aspects Illicit drug use is associated with a multitude of serious adverse health, social and economic consequences. Can be categorized as 1. Health outcomes 2. Specific health outcomes 3. Social sequelae Health outcomes Mortality rate; Studies revealed that MR among injecting drug users is about 13 times greater than same age sex of non users. Once HIV enters drug injecting population, HIV related complication dominates & mortality rate increases. Morbidity; injecting drug use is also associated with considerable morbidity. This is because drug use 1. Is accompanied by hazardous consumption of drugs (alcohol, BDZ, cocaine, cannabis, amphetamine etc) 2. Is associated with low socio-economic status, inadequate & irregular diet, limited education, unemployment etc. 3. Poorer outcome because of limited access to medical care. Specific Health outcomes (Medical Conditions Arising from Drug use) Overdose; Is the major cause of death in injecting drug users. Typical symptoms of opiate overdose include pinpoint pupil un reactive to light, shallow respiration, low pulse rate, hypotension, unconsciousness. Naloxone, a parenteral short acting Opioid antagonist is very effective for overdose.  Causes of overdose 1. Drug interactions Psychoactive drugs, such as opiates and stimulants, have a number of drug interactions. These drugs may interact in a number of ways, for example CNS depressants (e.g. alcohol, benzodiazepines) may increase sedation in those on opiates and decrease respiration, increasing the risk of overdose. 2. Poly-drug use Many injecting drug users will be using more than one drug. There may be additional complications associated with the combined adverse effects of using the drugs. Drug user have 9 fold greater risk of hepatitis A, it spread through faeco- oral & common in drug users because of poor standards of hygiene. Sexually transmissible infections and Gynae problems; AIDS, gonorrhea, others, pelvic inflammatory disease, menstrual irregularities are common among drug users. Opioid users frequently suffer from loss of libido. Other infections; Tetanus, botulism is common in drug user who inject SC with non sterile equipment, where microbes find anaerobic environment. Distal bacterial infection can result in septicemia, endocarditis, lung, brain and joint abscesses. Sepsis is a serious condition that happens when the body’s immune system has an extreme response to an infection. The body’s reaction causes damage to its own tissues and organs.