Recreational drugs and CVD . . . and other stories

Recreational drug use and acute cardiovascular eventsMore than 10% of people admitted to coronary care units had recently used recreational drugs—most commonly cannabis but also opioids, cocaine, amphetamines, and methylenedioxymethamphetamine—according to a survey from France that used urine testing to screen patients. Only half of patients declared their drug use. Risk of death, cardiac arrest, or haemodynamic shock was around 10 times higher in people testing positive than among those who hadn’t used drugs (Heart doi:10.1136/heartjnl-2023-322520).Plant based dietsProspective studies have consistently shown that vegetarians have a lower all cause mortality and lower rates of ischaemic heart disease than people who regularly eat meat (Am J Clin Nutr doi:10.1093/ajcn/70.3.516s). Since plant based diets are rich in antioxidants and unsaturated fatty acids, one might also expect a favourable influence on brain ageing. However, a large population based longitudinal investigation from the Netherlands found no protective effect of plant based diets on the…
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