While deaths from cardiovascular disease trended downward during the first two decades of this century, deaths from drug use increased by an average of 4% a year, according to a new study.
The study, published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Heart Association, analyzed mortality trends using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 1999 to 2019. The analysis found that increases in cardiovascular disease deaths related to substance use were highest among women, Native Americans, and Alaskans. Indigenous peoples, young people, people living in rural areas, and users of cannabis and psychostimulants.
Alcohol plays a prominent role, being associated with 65% of all cardiovascular deaths related to drug use. Nearly 14% were related to opioid use, just under 10% to cocaine use, and 6.5% to methamphetamine use. The association between cannabis and cardiovascular death was the weakest, at less than 1%, but there was a significant increase over the study period. The authors suggested that this could be due to more states legalizing its use or because the drug’s potency is increasing.
“The study results were generally consistent with what we see in the clinic when treating patients with cardiovascular disease,” lead study author Dr. Dmitry Abramov said in a news release. Abramoff is a cardiologist and associate professor of medicine at Loma Linda Health University in California.
She said the substances most associated with cardiovascular deaths were alcohol and opioids, but the increase in cardiovascular deaths associated with stimulants (mainly amphetamines) was particularly pronounced. “This highlights the continuing risks of common substances, including alcohol and opioids, and the need to address amphetamines as a rapidly increasing contributor to cardiovascular disease deaths. .”
Mortality rates increased most rapidly among adults aged 25 to 39, at an average annual rate of 5.3%, followed by adults aged 55 to 69, with an increase of 4.9%. Cardiovascular deaths related to substance use were higher in men than women, but the increase in mortality among women was greater than among men over the study period, Abramoff said. Previous research has shown increased rates of drug use and overdose among middle-aged women.
He said: “Identification of high-risk groups will be important in order to prioritize preventive measures to reduce cardiovascular disease deaths associated with substance use.”
Abramoff said more public health efforts are needed to address drug use in the United States, focusing on the socioeconomic factors that may be contributing. “Efforts like this are critical to reversing trends in cardiovascular disease mortality associated with substance use and are expected to lead to further reductions in the overall burden of heart disease and stroke.”
