Cocaine use is highly associated with infective endocarditis:

in one study of drug users with endocarditis, 79% were cocaine users (Chambers et al. 1987). In addition to embolization, endocarditis can cause a septic cerebral arteritis. Endocarditis provokes ICH from rupture of mycotic aneurysms and hemorrhagic transformation of embolic stroke (Hart et al. 1987; Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical Enevoldson 2004; Hagan and Burney 2007). Hypertensive surge with or without an underlying vascular malformation is the most common implicated etiology for ICH and SAH. The indirect sympathomimetic effects of cocaine transiently raise the systolic blood pressure, which can cause spontaneous bleeding in existing AVMs, aneurysms, or areas Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical of old ischemic strokes, or may actually facilitate aneurysm formation (Nolte et al. 1995). Cocaine users with ICH have very high blood pressure on admission

(Martin-Schild et al. 2009), and have blood in classic hypertensive locations. Brainstem hemorrhages were over-represented in patients Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical with cocaine-associated ICH. Cocaine users with ICH have worse short-term functional outcome compared to patients with hemorrhage who are not cocaine users. In fact, cocaine users with ICH were nearly five times more likely to be dependent and three times more likely to die than patients with ICH who did not use cocaine (Martin-Schild et al. 2010). When SAH occurs in cocaine users, aneurysms are often detected Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical on angiography (Oyesiku

et al. 1993; Fessler et al. 1997). Amphetamines Widespread amphetamine abuse began during World War II, when it was offered to soldiers to fight fatigue and improve morale. By the 1950s, there was an upswing in legal prescription of amphetamines in the United States. The manufacture and distribution of amphetamines was greatly reduced after the passage of the Controlled Substances Act in 1970. In the late 1980s and 1990s, however, amphetamines were back in vogue, due to the ease and low Axitinib expense Cilengitide of synthesizing methamphetamines Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical in amateur laboratories. As of 2000, an estimated 35 million people abused amphetamines worldwide, as compared with 15 million cocaine abusers (Albertson et al. 2007). Pharmacology Amphetamines constitute a group of drugs with chemical similarity to the natural neurotransmitters epinephrine and dopamine. selleck compound Synthetic modifications result in differing effects and properties. Each is a weak base and can be absorbed via multiple routes. Depending on the particular drug and dosage, the half-life can range from 10 to 30 hours. Methamphetamine (meth) is the most potent of amphetamines and is most commonly abused; it has a half-life of 12 hours, is metabolized through the liver, and has an active metabolite which is a potent hallucinogen.