What is the impact of substance use on heart-related deaths?

Dr. Dmitry Abramov joined me on a recent episode of Causes or Cures to talk about this.

He and his team recently conducted research on this topic and published in the Journal of the American Heart Association. In the podcast, he explains how he did the research, what substances have the greatest impact on heart-related deaths, and what subpopulations are most at risk, including some surprising trends! Substances assessed include alcohol, opioids, marijuana, and psychostimulants (think speed). He also describes how these substances may damage the heart.

When I first saw this study, I thought it was a good one for the podcast considering how many people use substances. If you think about alcohol, for example, it’s an integral part of how we socialize. People always “go for a drink”, there’s happy hour, boozy brunches…but is that good for us? Can it do a number on our hearts? You’ll hear about that in the podcast. I also asked a few questions specifically about the effects of marijuana on the heart because of all the changed state laws. It’s been decriminalized in many places and smoke shops have popped up everywhere…but does increased access and use impact our hearts?

By the way, while you listen to the Impact of Substance Use on Heart-Related Deaths, keep in mind that heart-related deaths have gone down in general…however, the percentage attributed to substance use has gone up. That’s the interesting part that I want to put on your radar.

Dr. Abramov is a practicing cardiologist and researcher at Loma Linda University. His specialties include cardiovascular disease and advanced heart failure and transplant cardiology.

Listen to the Impact of Substance Use on Heart-Related Deaths here! 

If you haven’t yet, please explore some of the other episodes, such as this one on the function of dreams. It’s a fascinating conversation I had with a neuroscientist who has studied dreams and why we dreams for over twenty years.

I also want to remind everyone that the Causes or Cures Podcast is now available on Youtube! You can listen to the impact of substance use on heart-related deaths episode here:

Thanks everyone!

And if you get a chance to subscribe to my Youtube Channel, please do! :) – Eeks