STUDY LOOKS AT COCAINE USE, HEART ATTACKS

MASSACHUSETTS - Cocaine use can promote blood clotting, which may
explain how the drug triggers heart attacks in its users, according to
a new study.

Cocaine caused blood to thicken by increasing the number of red blood
cells, and by triggering an increase in a protein that causes
platelets to stick together, said Dr. Arthur Siegel, the study's lead
author.

The "double whammy" can cause clotting that can lead to heart attacks
and strokes, said Siegel, chief of internal medicine at McLean
Hospital outside Boston.

A previous study, released in June, showed that cocaine users are 24
times more likely to have a heart attack during the first hour after
taking the drug. The new study, which appears in today's issue of the
Archives of Internal Medicine, may help explain why such heart attacks
occur.

Siegel acknowledged that the study's small sample size made the
conclusions preliminary, and he suggested further study.