Cocaine

General 10: Effects of cocaine on the heart

Cocaine constricts, or narrows, the body’s blood vessels, including the coronary arteries. This makes the blood flow more slowly. The heart receives less oxygen, at a time that it really needs more oxygen. This can cause spasms in the coronary arteries or strong heart palpitations. These may be dangerous, especially for people with potential heart problems.

As the blood flows more slowly, blood clots can form more easily, for example if platelets clump together. If one of these blood clots lodges in a coronary artery, that can trigger a heart attack.

Because of these effects users have a higher chance of getting a heart attack in the hours after the use. The long term damage is not well understood. But there is a higher percentage of heartattacks at a young age with people who have used cocain in there life.