Invitation to comment

This blog is for researchers, providers, users, community groups, policy makers, and others who are interested in reframing America's response to drug use using the approach exemplified by the 2nd National Conference. The conference is designed to be the "table" where the stakeholders and those most affected by methamphetamine can come together to create solutions that are based in science and compassion. We invite law enforcement and criminal justice professionals as well as treatment providers and harm reductionists because they all have a role to play, and by working together, we hope to reduce the harms associated with drug use and the harms associated with bad drug policy. We invite you to comment and send us news and information to post. Weclome to the table!

Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Strokes in Young People Could be Due to Meth
Discovery that methamphetamine and related drugs lead to tears in major arteries could change how doctors handle such cases
by Charles Q. Choi
Scientific American
December 26, 2006

The drug known on the streets as crystal meth could increase the risk of stroke and major tears in neck arteries, neurologists report.

With help from his colleagues, neurologist Wengui Yu, now at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, examined two women, ages 29 and 36, both of whom used methamphetamine and then suddenly experienced weakness and difficulty in speaking. Brain scans revealed both women had suffered severe strokes from tears in the inner lining of one of the major arteries in the neck, an injury known as carotid artery dissection.

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