Stimulants are being used with increasing frequency by students across college campuses (see ‘Harvard Students: Reaching for drugs to boost brain power). Many of them, however, probably aren’t well aware of the various side effects. In addition to chronic cognitive problems, amphetamines can also induce catastrophic acute events.

An article in the December 2006 issue of Neurology [Reference here] describes a couple of cases of carotid artery dissections following amphetamine use. The carotid arteries are two of the major blood vessels that travel up the neck and supply blood to the brain. When these arteries dissect (tear), strokes often ensue. A stroke is a focal area of permanent brain death due to lack of blood flow.

Cocaine, another sympathomimetic (drug that mimics the effects of sympathetic nervous system stimulation), has also been reported to cause tears in major blood vessels.

It is also important to note that amphetamines and cocaine can also lead to strokes via another mechanism: inflammation of blood vessels in the brain [click here for reference]. The medical term for this process is Vasculitis.

Since the vast majority of strokes are "silent", I suspect the prevalence of strokes due to stimulants is much higher than officially reported or recognized.

As far as more common chronic side effects, an earlier smartkit post details how just 3 months of Ritalin use (an amphetamine) can significantly damage the very blueprint of cell architecture- DNA.

In future posts, I’ll discuss oxidative damage as well as cardiac side effects.

Share This Post: