Medical consequences of chronic heroin abuse include scarred and/or collapsed veins, bacterial infections of the blood vessels and heart valves, abscesses (boils) and other soft-tissue infections, and liver or kidney disease. Lung complications (including various types of pneumonia and tuberculosis) may result from the poor health condition of the abuser as well as from heroin's depressing effects on respiration. Many of the additives in street heroin may include substances that do not readily dissolve and result in clogging the blood vessels that lead to the lungs, liver, kidneys, or brain. This can cause infection or even death of small patches of cells in vital organs. Immune reactions to these or other contaminants can cause arthritis or other rheumatologic problems.
Of course, sharing of injection equipment or fluids can lead to some of the most severe consequences of heroin abuse-infections with hepatitis B and C, HIV, and a host of other blood-borne viruses, which drug abusers can then pass on to their sexual partners and children.
| Drugs of Abuse | ||
|---|---|---|
| Alcohol | Cocaine/Crack | Ecstasy |
| Heroin | Inhalants | Ketamine |
| Meth | Marijuana | Nicotine |
| Ritalin | Steroids | More Resources |
| • Warning Signs of Teenage Drug Abuse | ||
| • Big Changes From Elementary School to Middle School | ||
| • Pressured Tweens & Teens Turn to Alcohol & Drugs | ||
| • Help for the Innocent | ||
| • Americans in Denial About Drug Abuse | ||
| • Sex Under the Influence of Alcohol and Other Drugs | ||
| • Youth Risk Behaviors | ||
| • Impaired Driving and Teenagers | ||
Source: The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).
