|
Long-term
Effects of Methamphetamine Use
Many
methamphetamine users begin to use the drug heavily after
only a short period of time, so some of what we call "long-term"
effects actually affect the meth user fairly early. Heavy
and/or long-term methamphetamine use can cause the following:
- Tooth
decay
- Anxiety,
paranoia, and insomnia
- Inability
to function socially
- Psychotic
behavior and violence
- Auditory
hallucinations and delusions
- Homicidal
or suicidal thoughts
- Elevated
blood pressure
- Lowered
resistance to disease
- Strokes
- Heart
infections
- Lung
disease
- Kidney
damage
- Liver
damage
- Lead
poisoning
- Brain
damage similar to Alzheimer’s disease or Parkinson’s disease
- Premature
delivery when used during pregnancy
- Babies
born to women who use suffer cardiac defects, cleft palate,
and other birth defects
- Increased
risk of contracting HIV/AIDS and hepatitis B and C
- Death
|
