Opioids are a class of drugs that have been used in medicine for dozens of years, but they can cause cardiovascular effects and effects in other areas of the body.
Potent painkillers, such as morphine, are used for various types of patients, such as cancer patients. These substances, despite bringing comfort to people with severe pain, usually of visceral origin, can cause addiction, among other burdens.
In this article, you'll learn about the main cardiovascular effects caused by opioids and the current outlook for this class of drugs.
Cardiovascular effects caused by opioids
According to the content published on the PEBMED Portal, the use of opioids is becoming more common every day, such as in the case of pulmonary edema and severe clinical pain. However, it has been noticed that unintentional deaths resulting from this type of medication are on the rise.
The biggest cause of death from opioids is related to cardiovascular effects, such as arrhythmias, acute myocardial infarction and even endocarditis.
You can also add bradycardia, syncope, flushing and vasodilation to this list.
These problems, added to someone already suffering from heart disease, can take on dangerous proportions and even lead to death.
Unfortunately, the absence of medication for those who for some reason are dependent on opioids can also be dangerous, due to withdrawal symptoms.
These range from hypertension to acute coronary syndrome, which are also serious risks that can easily lead to complications.
How to prevent cardiovascular effects and death from opioids?
In order to prevent cardiovascular effects from both the use of drugs of this class and withdrawal from them, it is essential that the specialist considers the indication and necessity, as well as the quantity, frequency and length of treatment.
One of the main recommendations is to avoid chronic use of these drugs as much as possible, to analyze the first signs of addiction in patients and, of course, to advise them to seek treatment and stop using opioids.
If, by any chance, the patient shows symptoms of respiratory failure during the exposure period, such as changes in heart tests, you need to be vigilant and act quickly to avoid death or serious sequelae.
It is essential to always be informed about this issue, the cardiovascular effects that each type of medication can cause, as well as keeping up to date with data on opioids and their adverse reactions.
Current outlook
Data shows that the increase in the use of opioids, especially Fentanyl and Tramadol, is higher and has caused twice as many deaths from overdose, whether from prescribed or illicit use, according to a study by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The figures show that the number of deaths between 2015 and 2016 was double that of other years, as well as comparing data from 1999 to 2010. The increase in the sale of this type of substance has been worrying.
This shows that the use of this drug is becoming more common every day, even in cases where it would not be indicated, causing not only higher death rates, but also cardiac sequelae and addiction.
Now that you know more about the relationship between opioids and their cardiovascular effects, take the opportunity to read about thecardiovascular risks of obesity for young people.
