|
R
|
ecent
research shows that more than one-third of people who are recovering from
addiction continue to experience chronic physical disease.
People are familiar with the effects
of addiction, but what about the aftermath?
Excessive
use of alcohol and drugs can lead to mental and physical health issues, some of
which include anxiety, depression, diabetes,
liver disease, and heart disease.
Many
of these conditions may improve after recovery, but some may linger and
diminish the quality of life.
A
study carried out at the Massachusetts General Hospital Recovery Research
Institute in Boston analyzed the impact of recovery on medical conditions that
are caused or aggravated by alcohol and drug abuse.
The
researchers published their
findings in the Journal of
Addiction Medicine, in a paper titled "Medical burden of disease
among individuals in recovery from alcohol and other drug problems in the
United States."
"The
prodigious psychological, social, and interpersonal impact of excessive and
chronic alcohol and other drug use is well-characterized," said David
Eddie, Ph.D., a research scientist and lead author of the study.
He
continued, "Less well-appreciated is the physical disease burden,
especially among those who have successfully resolved a significant substance
use problem."
Statistics on substance abuse
According
to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, in 2016, more than 20 million people
aged 12 or older had a substance use disorder related to alcohol or illicit
drugs during the previous year.
Of
these people, about 15 million were addicted to alcohol, and more than 7
million had an illicit drug use disorder.
The
same survey revealed that approximately 21 million people in the U.S. aged 12
or older needed treatment for substance use addiction, including almost 4 million
individuals who received any treatment for the issue and about 2 million who
received the treatment at a specialized facility.
The
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism estimate that about 88,000 people
die from alcohol-related causes every year, making alcohol the third leading
preventable cause of death in the U.S.
In
2017, over 70,200 people
in the country died from a drug overdose, according to the National Institute
on Drug Abuse.
The effects of addiction after recovery
The
researchers behind the current study drew from 2017 National Recovery
Survey data and
developed a sample of more than 2,000 adults in the U.S. who were recovering
from substance use addiction.
Of
this group, 37 percent had received a diagnosis of one or more of the following
health problems: liver disease, tuberculosis, HIV or other sexually transmitted infections, cancer, hepatitis C, chronic
obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), heart disease, and diabetes.
If
a person does not receive treatment, all of these conditions can significantly
diminish the quality of life and reduce an individual's life expectancy.
The
study found that hepatitis C, COPD, heart disease, and diabetes occurred more
frequently among people in recovery, compared with the general population.
The
type of substance associated with the addiction affected the prevalence of the
disease:
·
Hepatitis C was more common in the
opioid and stimulant groups than the alcohol group.
·
HIV and sexually transmitted
infections were more common in the stimulant group than the alcohol group.
·
The prevalence of heart disease was
lowest in the opioid group.
·
Diabetes was least common in the
cannabis group.
·
Regarding rates of tuberculosis and
COPD, there were no significant differences among the groups.
For
the researchers, the association between injected drugs and an increased risk
of hepatitis C or HIV was intuitive, but other findings were less so.
"For
instance, those citing cannabis as their primary substance did not have lower
rates of alcohol-related liver disease than participants who primarily used
alcohol. It may be that these individuals had prior histories of heavy alcohol
involvement," Eddie notes.
The
risk of having two or more chronic physical illnesses increased by 4–7 percent,
depending on factors such as using an additional substance 10 or more times,
older age at the development of the disease, and recovering from the addiction
later in life.
On
the opposite side, younger age, social stability, and economic resources were
associated with few or no physical diseases. If a person was female or Hispanic
or had a household income greater than $50,000, they had a lower risk of
physical illness.
"The extent to which these diseases and health
conditions continue to persist for the millions of Americans who achieve
recovery remains to be clarified, but this study highlights the fact that these
negative impacts may continue to affect quality of life, even when people
achieve addiction recovery."
David Eddie, Ph.D.
Eddie,
a Massachusetts General Hospital clinical psychologist and an instructor in
psychology at Harvard Medical School, believes that exploring the complex links
between substance abuse and physical disease will require more research.
He notes that the health industry needs to find better methods and strategies to help individuals with substance abuse disorders and reduce the risk of disease.
He notes that the health industry needs to find better methods and strategies to help individuals with substance abuse disorders and reduce the risk of disease.
No comments:
Post a Comment