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Methamphetamine use is rampant in the United States in both small towns and large urban centers. In Know the Dangers, Tarzana Treatment Centers (TTC) provides access to quality studies about substance use disorders and mental health challenges. The goal is to help families and friends in need make smart decisions about helping loved ones in crisis. As providers of integrated substance use disorder treatment services that addresses the whole person, the treatment team at TTC are here to help.

Thus, given the dangers of crystal meth abuse, below are five recent studies about methamphetamines. Indeed, a goal in picking these studies is to show the many kinds of dangers that come with the use of this powerful stimulant. Although the physical devastation of methamphetamine use is well documented, there are other dangers as well.

Five Studies about Methamphetamine Use

1) Methamphetamine use and heart failure: prevalence, risk factors, and predictors (The American Journal of Emergency Medicine – 2018)

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0735675718300019

The frightening conclusion of this article is clear: “Methamphetamine-positive patients have a significantly higher prevalence of heart failure than the general emergency department population who are methamphetamine-negative or not tested.”

Beyond leading to heart failure, methamphetamine abuse causes permanent damage to the heart.

2) “Gave me a line of ice and I got hooked”: Exploring narratives of initiating methamphetamine use (Public Health Nursing – 2019)

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/phn.12568

Methamphetamine use happens for a variety of reasons: “Many participants described initiating methamphetamine use because they believed it would help them meet personal goals or needs. Other participants began using it out of curiosity, to develop relationships, and/or because of the drug’s ubiquity in their social environments.”

Thus, most users do not realize how intensely addictive meth is from the very first line or hit. Thus, methamphetamine use is like playing Russian Roulette with the bullet of addiction.

3) Histological Changes in Adipose Tissue: An Alarm When Methamphetamine Is Targeted for Weight Loss Purposes (World Journal of Plastic Surgery – 2021)

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8016377/

Crystal meth use and weight loss are a terrifying combination. The damaging results are terrifying. As the study shows, “METH use resulted in a significant inflammation and necrosis in adipose tissue denoting to the dangers of METH use, when recreationally targeted for weight loss purposes.”

In other words, beyond the other damaging aspects of meth abuse, it destroys the tissues in the body. Such destruction leads to inflammation, degeneration, and necrosis.

4) Dark Times: The Role of Negative Reinforcement in Methamphetamine Addiction (Frontiers in Psychiatry – 2020)

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00114/full

“Despite deleterious long-term consequences associated with methamphetamine, many people use drugs for short-term reduction of unpleasant physical or emotional sensations. By removing these aversive states, drug use behaviors are negatively reinforced. Abstinence from methamphetamine can then result in a return to previous aversive emotional states linked to withdrawal and craving, often contributing to an increased likelihood for relapse. This negative reinforcement cycle is hypothesized to be a motivating and maintaining factor for addiction.”

In other words, the negative headspace that leads to drug abuse comes back with a vengeance. When crystal meth addicts try to get clean, they often struggle. Hence, relapse is the direct result of this deadly cycle of negative reinforcement.

5) Cognitive deficits in methamphetamine addiction: Independent contributions of dependence and intelligence (Drug and Alcohol Dependence – 2020)

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0376871620300569

It shows, “Methamphetamine’s effects on brain function have been associated with cognitive deficits… Methamphetamine dependence impacts inhibitory control and decision-making.”

In other words, crystal meth permanently damages the human brain.

Methamphetamine Help and Tarzana Treatment Centers

Indeed, given the results of these studies, crystal meth use by a loved one is a true crisis. If you do not know what to do, the best choice is to reach out for professional support. Thus, please contact the integrated treatment services team at Tarzana Treatment Centers. We are here to help.