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BALTIMORE, Jan. 12 (UPI) -- Cocaine use has known negative health effects including a high risk for coronary artery disease, but a new study has shown that reducing or stopping cocaine use may reverse the effects of the disease. Researchers at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine have discovered that a reduction or stoppage of cocaine use can lead to regression of unstable, non-calcified coronary plaques, which can cause a heart attack or stroke.
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"In the past, there has been excellent work to uncover the consequences of drug use," Dr. Shenghan Lai, of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, said in a press release. "However, few studies have revealed what happens after drug use stops. Studies of this kind give people hope for a healthier life after stopping drug use."
A previous study from 2000 looked at the prevalence of cocaine use and the development of coronary atherosclerosis in 700 African-American patients.
The results of that study showed that by reducing cocaine use through a cash incentive program, the patients had a decreased level of endothelin-1, or ET-1, a protein that promotes inflammation and is vital to the development of coronary artery disease.
To determine the role a reduction of ET-1 played in reducing coronary artery disease in people who use cocaine use over a 20-year period, Lai and his team followed 15 patients and found that atherosclerosis was responsible for a more than 50 percent blockage of arteries.
Participants in the study had reduced their cocaine use from daily to an average of 50 days a year. Researchers found that the reduction in cocaine use correlated with a reduction of ET-1 and other causes of inflammation.
"This preliminary study demonstrates potentially beneficial effects of cocaine abstinence/reduction on inflammation and coronary plaque phenotype," Lai said. "The findings ... may have important implications for the prevention of cocaine-induced coronary artery disease."
The study was published in the Journal of Addiction Medicine.
