When people contemplate the impacts of drug abuse, most focus on the more apparent signs of addiction. There’s the missing teeth, the bad skin, and lack of hygiene. They don’t think about the long-term damage done to the body by heavy substance abuse. There’s a direct correlation between physical health and addiction. It doesn’t help if a person already has existing health issues before drinking heavily or using drugs. If you’re struggling with drugs and alcohol, please contact Serenity House Detox & Recovery Florida today at 866.294.5306.
Diabetes and Addiction
Diabetes is a medical condition where the body fails to produce sufficient insulin levels to keep your body healthy. Insulin regulates the amount of sugar in your blood. If you don’t have enough insulin, your body can’t metabolize sugar, leading to excess sugar in your blood and urine. Higher levels of sugar can lead to medical issues like:
- High blood pressure
- Heart disease
- Kidney disease
- Nerve damage
- Eye damage
Some people with diabetes turn to drugs and alcohol to manage symptoms of sugar withdrawal. Ongoing drug abuse can make your diabetes worse, leading to additional health problems. Many people with diabetes don’t comprehend the danger presented by excessive substance abuse. They focus on maintaining a healthy sugar balance without thinking about other physical damage caused by drugs and alcohol.
The sugar content in alcohol can keep a person’s liver from releasing the glucose needed to raise blood sugar levels. The longer it takes for the liver to break down alcohol, the higher the risk is for a person with diabetes to experience hypoglycemia, where your blood sugar gets too low.
Heart Disease and Addiction
Damage to your blood vessels or heart tissue can cause it to malfunction, a condition known as heart disease. Your heart may not pump sufficient levels of oxygenated blood to different parts of your body. Other tissues within your body get deprived of oxygen. Heart disease can hinder your body’s ability to transport waste products and other toxins through your kidneys to the liver, so they get removed from the body.
Heavy drinking and drug use can cause you to develop heart disease. People already diagnosed with the condition can make the illness worse through substance abuse. You put yourself in danger of experiencing complications like:
Myocardial Infarction
Blockages can develop in the blood vessels connected to the heart. That could damage the cardiac muscle, decrease heart function, and lead to a heart attack. The condition can build up gradually from years of substance abuse.
Arrhythmias
An arrhythmia, or irregular heartbeat, can affect the rate at which blood gets pumped through your body. While most arrhythmias aren’t life-threatening, some can cause events that lead to a heart attack. The irregular heartbeat can affect the way your heart muscle contracts, causing periods where the blood fails to circulate properly.
Brain Hemorrhage
Disruptions in blood flow to the skull can cause blood to seep into spaces in and around the brain. Without treatment, the condition can lead to a stroke.
Liver Disorders and Addiction
The liver acts as a filter for waste and other toxins found in the bloodstream. Heavy drinkers put a lot of alcohol through their bodies. It can take a long time for the liver to process the alcohol out of the body. The excess circulates through the blood and gets to the heart and brain, which is what causes people to feel intoxicated. Ongoing alcohol abuse destroys liver cells and can lead to issues like:
- Fatty liver
- Cirrhosis
- Alcoholic hepatitis
- Cellular mutations that cause liver cancer
To learn more about addiction’s effect on your health, please contact Serenity House Detox & Recovery Florida today.
Protect Your Health at Serenity House Detox & Recovery Florida
If you’re concerned about your long-term health, getting treatment for your substance abuse issues gives your body time to recover from the side effects. Serenity House Detox & Recovery Florida offers programs that help you manage your physical health and addiction recovery.
Start getting healthier today by calling Serenity House Detox & Recovery Florida at 866.294.5306, or contact us online.
