Researchers analysed data on patients treated for stroke or drug abuse at Texas hospitals between 2000 and 2003. They concluded that amphetamine abuse was associated with a fivefold increased risk of haemorrhagic stroke (bleeding in the brain), but not ischemic stroke (blocked blood flow to the brain).
They also found that cocaine was associated with a greater than twofold increased risk of both haemorrhagic and ischaemic stroke.
In addition, amphetamine abuse, but not cocaine use, was associated with a higher risk of death after haemorrhagic stroke, the study authors said.
The study is published in the April issue of the journal Archives of General Psychiatry. – (HealthDayNews)
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