I Bet You Never Thought Your Addiction would Lead to Three of the Worst Diseases

Everyone knows that addiction is a complicated and dangerous disease in and of itself. The ravages of addiction are well documented, and can include suicide, depression, and anxiety. Even though a large portion of the physical damages from addiction are well known. What may not be well known, are the diseases that often come from drug use and addiction. Here are three of the worst diseases that you never thought your addiction would lead to.

HIV

Human immunodeficiency virus has no cure, and is extremely difficult to treat. Not only this, but even with early and aggressive treatment, there is absolutely no doubt that it will eventually cause the death of someone suffering from it. HIV and its subsequent disorder AIDS, damages the body’s ability to fight off illness and disease. The only treatment involves high dosage antiviral medications that only serve to slow down the spread of HIV.

It is spread through contact with infected bodily fluids, and can be obtained from unprotected sexual contact and needle sharing. Both of these situations are common among addicts. In fact, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, heroin users are far more likely to contract HIV and hepatitis than other people. If you have a drug problem and HIV we can help, call us at 800-487-1890 (Who Answers?) .

Hepatitis B

Needle sharing can spread hepatitis B, which causes flu-like symptoms.

Viral hepatitis is a disease that causes liver damage, and is transferred from contact with infected bodily fluids. Viral hepatitis comes in a number of varieties, with hepatitis B being one of the most common and most dangerous. Needle sharing is believed to the most common means of spreading the disease, as it is primarily spread through contact with infected blood.

Hepatitis B begins as an acute condition that inflames the liver causing jaundice, abdominal pain, and flu-like symptoms. If it is not treated promptly, it can develop into a chronic condition that has no cure and continues to damage the cells of the liver. This, in turn, may cause liver failure and death.

Heart Disease

Heart disease is the leading cause of death among Americans and has been for a number of years. Heart disease generally develops after damage is done to the heart or blood vessels. Everyone knows that cholesterol can cause this kind of damage and understands how it can develop into heart disease. However, addiction can cause even more damage over a much shorter period of time.

According to the American Heart Association, the relationship between drug use and heart disease is very clear. Drug abuse causes many cardiovascular problems including:

• hardening of the blood vessels,
• heart arrhythmia,
• thickening of the left ventricle of the heart,
• infections of the blood and heart valves,
• high blood pressure, and
• heart attack.

All of these problems contribute to heart disease, putting addicted persons at much higher risk of heart disease, massive heart attack, and stroke.

The best way to keep from contracting these diseases from your addiction is to stop using drugs now. There are treatment options available. Call us today at 800-487-1890 (Who Answers?) and let us help you find the treatment that you need so that you can avoid these deadly diseases.

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