Laughter of the nose, tears of the heart

2000/02/15 Roa Zubia, Guillermo - Elhuyar Zientzia

• Osasuna
• Farmakologia

The fashion of cocaine has caused many heart diseases among young people. It is known to cause coronary artery spasm. But it also has another effect. Michigan researchers find that it excites the immune system to keep the heart tissue healthy.

Some doctors see how drug abuse is exhausting hospital entrances. That is why this research has been developed. According to his opinion, cocaine is attracting a large number of young people who do not have to have medical problems. Most of them are men.

Condition to hormone chains

The University of Michigan team is led by Benedict Lucchesi. Its results indicate that cocaine launches the “auxiliary chain” of the immune system. This chain is normally activated by introducing external microorganisms into the body. It accumulates complex proteins in plasma membranes and exploits cells. In the heart of rabbits they have seen that cocaine increases the synthesis of these proteins. It produces killer complexes in the muscle cells of the heart and in the endothelial cells, that is, in which they form the cover of the blood forests.

Doctors have long known that the auxiliary chain can damage heart tissue in some cases. For this reason, researchers in Michigan study the usefulness of kits that block the chain against overdose, promoted by Dr. Lucchesi. The hearts of a group of young people who take cocaine multiply and become more flexible. This makes the blood not so well pumped. The work done in Michigan, according to cardiac pathologist Michael Davis of St. George Hospital in London, explains why. "This result and ancillary chains are an idea of numbness in the tissue of the heart and the forests of blood," says Davis. Dallas Baylor Medical Center speaker Larry Alexander also agrees: "The government should work harder to predict the relationship between cocaine and heart."

Cocaine can lead the coronary artery into the spasm. Alexander and other emergency experts believe this is why so many young people enter with chest pain. Once there is no heart attack, doctors return them home. However, each case should be analyzed, which quickly reduces hospital resources. Alexander believes that the relationship between cocaine and chest pain is not evident in all cases. Consequently, cocaine revenue statistics may be undervalued. According to official US data, this figure has doubled between 1990 and 1998.

Undeclared

Alexander believes that people who often suffer from artery spasms can easily develop heart disease. John Henry is an overdose expert at St. Mary Hospital in London. He believes that 10% of cases arriving at the hospital with chest pain are affected by cocaine. Henry now wants to request permission for the urine analysis of these patients. Although demand generates ethical problems, research can be important.