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A member asked:
Can long term cocaine, heroin, and alcohol use cause specific heart damage such as atherosclerosis?
A doctor has provided 1 answer
Alcohol is toxic and: potentially damages everything it touches, including hearts, but also livers, kidneys, bladders, etc. Cocaine amps up everything (its a speed), plus is also toxic, so yes, it can damage tissue, too. Heroin fills up opiate receptors and in effect, turns a lot of functions off. Whenever you have tissue damage, you are likely to get inflammation, which is one cause of arterial plaque.
Answered 5/11/2016
1.8k views
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