Party drugs can bring on an early stroke Doctors are facing an
alarming rise in the incidence of strokes among young people who
have taken cocaine, amphetamines or ecstasy, researchers report
in Saturday's issue of the British Medical Journal (BMJ).
Scientists from London's National Hospital for Neurology and
Neurosurgery warn these drugs can trigger a cerebral haemorrhage
among people who have underlying arterial problems. "The growing
pandemic of cocaine use in Western society is providing
increasing evidence of its association with intracerebral
haemorrhage," they write. "It is becoming increasingly evident
that misuse of cocaine in people with underlying vascular
abnormalities may lead to haemorrhage." The team said that in
the past seven months, it had treated 13 drug users for strokes,
12 of whom had damaged or malformed cerebral arteries. Four of
the 12 died, one was left with severe brain damage, and the
others eventually recovered after surgery. Strokes are caused
when a blood vessel in the brain bur