Your Heart, Drugs, and Cardiovascular Disease

A healthy and properly functioning heart is essential to your well-being. After all, your heart is responsible for carrying oxygen and nutrients to your brain and other vital organs. Without a consistent supply of oxygen, your vital organs shut down quickly. And without proper nutrients, these organs can become damaged permanently.

In short, heart disease can be described as a dysfunction or damage to the tissues of the heart. This can also apply to the heart’s blood vessels due to the lowered capacity of oxygen being processed in the body.

As many people know, heart disease (brought on by cardiovascular damage) is the second greatest cause of death in the United States. Heart damage, and cardiovascular disease as a result, can be caused by a number of things including:

Alcohol abuse

Substance abuse

Unhealthy diet and malnutrition

Lack of exercise

Lack or poor quality of sleep

Excessive stress

While it’s true that your heart health can be affected by many things, including genetic factors, alcohol and substance abuse amplify these factors. By far, prolonged addiction to harmful substances has a detrimental effect on your heart health.

Particularly Dangerous Substances for the Heart

While all alcohol and substance abuse addictions negatively affect your cardiovascular health, some substances are worse than others. For example, the American Heart Association calls cocaine “the perfect heart-attack drug.” A recent study showed that cocaine contributes to heart disease from a number of angles, including aortic stiffening, high blood pressure, and increased thickness in ventricle walls.

Other substances like alcohol and opioids, which may not be as damaging in the short term, can be just as harmful as cocaine when abused over a longer period.

The Tricky Part About Alcohol Consumption

“Live in moderation” is a common life recommendation but it’s easier said than done. Alcohol, for example, has a very fine line of health benefits and health detriments. According to the Journal of the American College of Cardiology light to moderate alcohol use can have positive effects on heart health. On the other hand, as consumption increases, what were beneficial factors become harmful ones.

For those recovering from addiction, it’s essential to acknowledge these facts while also staying firm on the boundaries of your healing journey. When a person is prone to addiction, the cardio-protective elements of light alcohol consumption just aren’t worth it—there are other ways to improve your heart health that don’t risk you falling into relapse.

Heart Diseases Linked to Alcohol and Drug Use

There are a number of specific cardiovascular diseases that can be directly linked to substance abuse. When you introduce toxic substances to the body, such as excessive alcohol and harmful drugs, you make your body susceptible to heart damage. These eventually cause cardiovascular disease. The most common cardiovascular conditions brought on from substance abuse include:

Arrhythmias: These are irregularities in heartbeat, or the rate at which the blood is circulated around the body. Arrythmias can also cause sudden heart attacks.

Heart Attack (Myocardial Infarction): In brief, a heart attack is an impairment of blood flow to the heart. Lack of blood flow can cause extensive damage to cardiac muscles due to the lack of oxygen. A person having a heart attack might feel tightness in their chest, lose consciousness, or even death.

Brain Hemorrhages: These describe disruptions of blood vessels in the skull, in some cases resulting in bleeding around and within the brain. Most hemorrhages are caused by high blood pressure and poor cardiovascular health. Both of these can affect the cognitive and sensory functions of the brain.

More Heart Conditions and What You Can Do About Them

Hypertension (High Blood Pressure): The condition known as hypertension requires the heart to work harder in order to continue sufficient blood circulation in the body. Hypertension affects over a third of adults over the age of 20, and, if left untreated, may result in life-threatening conditions such as brain hemorrhages. Of course, overall bad cardiovascular health should be enough of a motivation to address hypertension early.

Hypotension (Low Blood Pressure): On the other end of the spectrum, the condition known as hypotension is expresses itself by rapid and shallow breathing. This can result in a weak pulse. Opioid users, for instance, are especially vulnerable to this condition. As a result, it can further complicate their heart health by suffering a sudden heart attack.

Overall, alcohol and substance abuse are serious risk factors for cardiovascular disease. And since the heart is such a central part of the body, any damage done to it can result in life-threatening conditions. Don’t wait to contact your doctor if you think you’re experiencing any of these disease symptoms. Moreover, if you’re struggling with alcohol or substance abuse, the sooner you receive help, the better. Don’t hesitate to contact Impact Recovery today by getting in touch with a member of our team here.

What is Aftercare?

Aftercare programs are one of the most important parts of the recovery process. They include any type of care offered after the detox or residential treatment.

Now that you’re sober, aftercare programs focus on how to keep it that way. They offer tools, strategies, resources, and support networks to make sure you don’t relapse. If someone doesn’t have an aftercare program in place after their treatment, there’s a very high likelihood they’ll cycle back into their addictive pattern.

Aftercare is a lifetime commitment and will always be a part of your recovery journey. But this should be an encouraging thought, not an overwhelming one. If done right, aftercare can be the most helpful and enriching parts of living in recovery.

Why is Aftercare Needed?

According to an article in the Journal of Reward Deficiency Syndrome, there are over 14,500 drug treatment centers in the United States. Many use evidence-based treatments during treatment but “many facilities are missing a piece of the puzzle, especially during aftercare.”

Some of these missing “puzzle pieces” may include:

Mental health follow-ups
Education counseling
Child care resources
Vocational and employment training
Financial literacy advice
Housing assistance
Transportation assistance
Relationship counseling
Legal advice and support
Physical health monitoring

Substance abuse aftercare can also provide peer support to clients once they leave a rehabilitation facility. But before leaving the treatment center, you and your team should make an aftercare plan. This will paint a better picture of what things will look like as you transition back into day to day life.

How Important is Community Support?

Just like you didn’t beat the cycle of substance abuse on your own, maintaining your health and sobriety after treatment also requires the support of those around you.

When you leave your treatment program, it’s inevitable that difficult circumstances will come up. They might make you reconsider your dedication to a sober life, or might make you feel like a failure. Guilt, shame, and insecurities are often the tipping points for relapse; so, who can you turn to for help in these key moments?

Support networks can come in many forms. A study in the Journal for Addictive Behaviors, for example, has shown how social reinforcement drastically improved how long clients stayed in aftercare programs. According to their study, social reinforcement in therapy settings included:

Being verbally recognized by a group therapist in the first few weeks of attendance
Being presented with a certificate after six weeks of participation in group therapy
Being recognized by name on an honor roll on public display
Being presented with a medallion after eight weeks of participation in group therapy

Therefore, social affirmation and positive reinforcement by your therapists are a key part to continued participation.

This also goes for friendship groups and everyday community interactions. It’s worthwhile to ask yourself how your friends and loved ones contribute to this positivity in your recovery process. Who is a good influence? Who brings you down? When you realize how important the community element is, the more successful your aftercare recovery will be.

First Steps to Making an Aftercare Treatment Plan

A typical substance abuse aftercare plan often includes a good balance of professional and independent elements. Things like developing a relapse prevention plan, outpatient therapy appointments, attending addiction self-help groups, and periodic drug testing are all good things to consider when you make your plan. The below tips will also help you get started:

#1 – Consult a professional: You should make sure to discuss your aftercare plan with their doctors and therapists, especially right as you leave your treatment program. An expert eye can help you identify what types of aftercare will be most beneficial for you and your journey.

#2 – Map it out, write it down: Make sure to keep a documented copy of their aftercare plan. It may start off as sticky notes and outlines, but ultimately, it should include all the information you need: important phone numbers, locations of support group meetings, and therapy appointment times.

#3 – Share your Plan: Your friends and family should be aware of your aftercare treatment plan. That way, they can respect your values and help support you in staying on track. This is essential if you want to stay accountable and keep the straight path in your recovery.

What Should You Expect in an Aftercare Program?

The long-term aftercare plan you work so hard to map out will aid you in your journey that you’ve invested so much time and effort in building. It’s important to remember that long-term drug use can harm your mental health and alter the brain’s normal functioning. These harmful effects don’t automatically go away when you stop using alcohol and drugs—it’s a step by step process to regaining control over your life.

In order to address the physical toll that addiction has on your body, aftercare programs shouldn’t be too extreme in their regimens. Make realistic goals and stick to them. An aftercare program should address these issues and help you monitor them so that you don’t end up relapsing.

You should also expect to dig deep into the process of identifying your triggers. When you move back into your community after rehab, you’ll be faced with triggers from your past. These triggers can make staying sober difficult. This is why a good aftercare program will include talking through how to cope with and even overcome them.

So while residential treatment programs come with a graduation date, aftercare can (and should) continue for as long as you need. For many people, aftercare goals can extend into years—this is lifelong journey. What could be more important than continuing to grow, staying healthy, and avoiding relapse? Aftercare is the place to start.

To learn more about our treatment options and aftercare services and how Numa Recovery can help, contact us here.