THE DISEASE OF DRUG ADDICTION IS MEDICALLY CLASSIFIED AS CHRONIC, PROGRESSIVE AND FATAL.

Addicts and alcoholics tend ignore that last bit and it’s a hard reality. Long-term addiction ends lives and there is no pretty way of saying it.

Alcohol is a drug and even cigarettes are drugs and addiction to these drugs can ultimately kill you.

People often think that only using harder substances such as heroin or crystal meth can really harm them, but what they fail to realise is that in time, using just about any drug can have severe effects on your body and even kill you.

Drug addiction support group members often find that the one thing they have in common, the one thing that could lead to their recovery, is that they don’t want to die.

For those who have been taking any of the drugs mentioned above for a long time, the physical effects on their bodies are often quite serious. Smoking causes to lung cancer, throat cancer, asthma and tuberculosis, all potentially fatal, while alcohol addiction can cause irreversible liver damage, kidney damage and even brain damage, all possibly lethal. As for chemical drugs, those patients in drug addiction treatment programs often speak about nosebleeds, organ failure, brain damage, as well as the mental symptoms such as anxiety, depression and fear.

Drug addiction can kill you, but it doesn’t have to.

With the right treatment for addiction, those who suffer from it can become healthy again. They do not have to sink into physical degradation and mental anguish. Getting into a drug rehab treatment facility or even an outpatient Programme can make a big difference for those suffering from drug addiction. It can change their lives for the better almost immediately, and it certainly takes them out of the firing line when it comes to potential death.

Start becoming concerned about your health now and recognise the dangers of drugs. If you already take drugs, get into a drug treatment Programme as soon as possible so that your body and mind are not in danger. Commit to living and you will not have to worry about dying because of drugs. You owe it to yourself, to your family and friends and those who love you to become an active participant in your own health. Don’t live each day on the edge. Instead, live each day to the fullest.

Risks of Long Term Drug Addiction

For prolonged drug abuse is often subject to dependency. In the long term, the risk of drugs on the body increases.

Effects of prolonged drug addiction are:

• Certain organs can be damaged and overloaded.
• The way of life of the addict, which is enforced by the drugs will change considerably.
• Drugs are used at the expense of healthy eating or a healthy social life (family, friends or acquaintances).

This drug addict experiences physical and mental decline.

The fact that drugs are illegal also plays a big role. In the long term, risks occur where doctors and researchers have no idea what effect it has on the physical and mental state of drug addicts.

The side effects of drugs can lead to increased blood pressure, a dry throat and mouth, the stiffening of the jaw muscles, teeth grinding, heart palpitations (which may startle or cause fear), nausea, anxiety, poisoning, muscle cramps, depressed or anxious. In people with heart disease, diabetes and epilepsy it can become a big problem.