RESEARCHERS CALL REGULAR COCAINE USE A STEADILY GROWING INVITATION TO STROKE

WASHINGTON -- Frequent cocaine use slowly inflames blood vessels and causes
clotting, increasing the risk of heart attack or stroke, researchers said
yesterday.

A team of scientists at Harvard University said constant exposure to
cocaine causes the body to boost production of blood-thickening factors
ordinarily used after an injury to slow blood loss and start tissue growth.

Cocaine use can cause problems as subtle as a nosebleed, but the symptoms
can progress to cardiac arrest and death. The study explained some of the
mechanisms behind this, including a rise in levels of C-reactive proteins,
which are linked to thickening in the arteries.

"Using cocaine once is like playing Russian roulette, but continued use
compounds the risk, so it is like adding a second bullet to the chamber of
the gun," Arthur Siegel, the doctor from Harvard's McLean Hospital who led
the study, said in a statement. Siegel's report appears in the American
Journal of Cardiology.

Siegel and his colleagues monitored the balance of blood-thickening and
blood-thinning factors by watching two groups of people: 10 users who took
cocaine between six and 20 times a week and 10 who took it between two and
six times a month. All 20 users had similar levels of cholesterol.

The researchers found that levels of C-reactive protein and two other
thickening components, von Willebrand Factor and fibrinogen, were higher in
those who used the drug on a regular basis.

Previous studies had demonstrated that using cocaine causes inflammation
briefly, but the new findings showed that gradual use has serious long-term
impacts that increase over time.