Methamphetamine Abuse Linked To Higher Rates of Parkinson’s Disease
Exhaustive research of over 300,000 hospital records has shown that individuals with a history of methamphetamine/amphetamine use are 76 percent more likely to be diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Scientists have presumed for decades that this connection may exist because both the drug and the disease affect similar pathways in the brain. The study conducted by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), Canada’s biggest mental health and addiction teaching hospital, supplied the evidence researchers had been suspecting.
How Are Parkinson’s and Amphetamine Use Related?
A deficiency of a chemical in the brain, known as dopamine, is the root cause of the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. Methamphetamines/amphetamines have been known to cause damage in the brain of animals during research. The particular areas that appear to be harmed from this type of drug abuse are responsible for the production of dopamine. Since animals are often used in research to understand the biochemistry and physiology of human beings better, most researchers assumed methamphetamines/amphetamines most likely affected humans the same way.
If scientists were so confidant, why has it taken so long for a study to be completed you may ask? This is due to the fact that Parkinson’s does not develop until later in life. The ability to track methamphetamines/amphetamine users over a long period of time is extremely difficult for a number of reasons, so no one has attempted this study until now.
What Did The Study Analyze?
To avoid the complications of this type of study, instead of tracking people, the researchers looked at three distinct groups of medical records in California over a 16-year period. These groups included:
1) Patients hospitalized due to methamphetamine or amphetamine use
2.)Patients with appendicitis with no history of addiction
3.)Patients diagnosed with cocaine abuse or addiction
They used the appendicitis group to represent the general population. The reason the cocaine group was included was twofold. Firstly, is it also a stimulant that is known to affect dopamine. And secondly, it would control for the way of life related to drug dependence. Of these groups, the methamphetamine/amphetamine users had a higher risk of receiving a Parkinson’s diagnosis than either the appendicitis group or the individual’s abusing cocaine.
Since methamphetamines are the number two most abused drug worldwide, this study will help people understand the long-term health consequences of its abuse. If you need more information on the results of methamphetamine/amphetamine addiction we can help. Call us now and let the conversation regarding methamphetamine/amphetamine dependency and rehabilitation begin.
