What Does Cocaine Do to Your Heart?
Key takeaways:
Cocaine makes the heart beat harder and faster and causes blood vessels to spasm. This keeps oxygen from reaching the heart muscle. This can lead to chest pain and heart attacks.
People can develop heart attacks after taking cocaine even if they are young and healthy.
Cocaine use can lead to permanent heart damage. The heart may not recover even if someone stops using cocaine.
Most people have heard of cocaine because it’s used recreationally for its mind-altering effects. But cocaine affects many parts of the body like the blood vessels and the heart. People who take cocaine can develop life-threatening conditions like heart attacks and aortic dissections. Cocaine can also increase your chances of developing heart disease like heart failure, high blood pressure, and blood clots. Here’s what cocaine can do to your heart.
How does cocaine affect your heart?
Cocaine is a stimulant. Stimulants speed up the body’s functions. Cocaine stimulates the brain, which can make you feel alert and euphoric.
Cocaine also stimulates the heart and blood vessels. This means that the heart beats faster and works harder. Blood vessels also clamp down when exposed to cocaine. The combination of these effects also raises a person’s blood pressure.
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A person’s heartbeat and blood pressure will go back to normal once cocaine leaves the body. But it will take several hours for this to happen. And during that time, people can develop serious health problems like heart attacks and aortic dissection. Cocaine use can even cause sudden death.
Anyone who takes cocaine can develop these life-threatening issues, regardless of their age or overall health. It also doesn’t matter how often you take cocaine. Both those who take cocaine occasionally and those who take it regularly face these risks.
What are the immediate effects of cocaine use on your heart?
Cocaine usually causes heart damage right away. This is different from some other substances that usually cause health problems over time.
Cocaine immediately makes your heart beat faster and harder. It also increases your blood pressure.
These changes mean that your heart is working harder than normal. Muscles, like the heart, need plenty of oxygen to work properly. And when they work harder, they need even more oxygen.
But cocaine causes blood vessels to clamp down and spasm. This means they aren’t able to deliver blood and oxygen easily.
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If the blood vessels can’t keep up with the heart’s oxygen needs, people will develop heart injury. This injury usually develops within an hour. The injury may be mild and people may not notice any symptoms. But even silent injury can lead to heart problems in the future.
Some people develop more serious heart injuries after using cocaine. The first sign of this is usually chest pain. Chest pain is a sign that the heart isn’t getting enough oxygen. For some people this feels like crushing or heavy pressure in the middle of the chest. Other people describe a burning sensation spreading across the ribs.
Chest pain can be a sign of a cocaine-induced heart attack. Many people have heart attacks within 60 minutes of taking cocaine. This can happen to anyone who takes cocaine, even people who are young and never had any heart problems in the past. You can have a cocaine-induced heart attack the first time you take cocaine. And the risk of having a heart attack goes up each time someone takes cocaine. Cocaine-induced heart attacks can be fatal.
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Chest pain after taking cocaine can also be a sign of an aortic dissection. An aortic dissection is a rip in the aorta, which is the largest artery in the body. There are several types of aortic dissections. The type associated with cocaine is often fatal. Again, anyone can develop an aortic dissection after taking cocaine.
What are the long-term effects of cocaine use on your heart?
Cocaine starts changing the heart’s ability to function right away. Over a few years, this leads to heart damage and medical conditions like:
Myocarditis
People can develop these conditions within a few years of starting to take cocaine. These conditions can make it difficult to walk, move and complete everyday activities. They can also lead to early death. Some of these conditions can be treated with medication. But heart damage from cocaine can’t be reversed or cured.
Does your heart recover when you stop using cocaine?
Unfortunately, heart damage related to cocaine use can’t be undone. But if you stop using cocaine, you’ll protect the healthy heart tissue that you still have. Each healthy heart cell is extremely valuable not just for how well your heart works but also for your overall health.
Medication and cardiac rehabilitation can help strengthen and protect healthy heart tissue. But the most important thing you can do to protect your heart is to stop taking cocaine.
Where can you find help for cocaine misuse or addiction?
Call the National Helpline from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) at 1-800-662-HELP (4357). It’s free, confidential, and open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. They can help you find a treatment center that’s right for you.
The bottom line
Cocaine makes the heart beat faster and work harder. This can lead to heart damage right away, even if you’re young and healthy. People can develop heart attacks within as little as an hour after taking cocaine, and even if they’ve never had heart problems in the past. Over time, cocaine can increase your risk of developing heart disease and heart failure.
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References
Eagle, K. A., et al. (2002). Cocaine-related aortic dissection in perspective. Circulation.
Greve, D., et al. (2020). Cocaine-related aortic dissection: What do we know? Brazilian Journal of Cardiovascular Surgery.
Lange, R. A., et al. (2010). Sudden death in cocaine abusers. European Heart Journal.
McCord, J., et al. (2008). Management of cocaine-associated chest pain and myocardial infarction: A scientific statement from the American Heart Association Acute Cardiac Care Committee of the Council on Clinical Cardiology. Circulation.
Mittleman, M. A., et al. (1999). Triggering of myocardial infarction by cocaine. Circulation.
Stankowski, R. V., et al. (2015). Cardiovascular consequences of cocaine use. Trends in Cardiovascular Medicine.
