COCAINE USERS' HEART ATTACK RISK

COCAINE users are 24 times more likely to have a heart attack during the
first hour after taking the drug, according to a new study.

Scientists have long known that the drug can raise the risk of cardiac
arrest, but research by scientists at Harvard Medical school has for the
first time quantified the risk.

Dr Murray Mittleman, who led the study, said: "It's rare to see such a
strong association hetween cocaine use and heart attack. It's larger than
all of the other triggers [for a) heart attack."

The research was based on interviews at 64 hospitals across the United
States with 3,946 patients; aged from 20 to 92, who had suffered heart
attacks between 1989 and 1996. All patients were guaranteed anonymity.
Thirty-eight reported cocaine use in the year prior to their attack, with
nine reporting use of the drug within an hour before their heart attack.

Dr Mittleman said the risk of a cardiac arrest appeared to drop
significantly after the first hour of cocaine use. The cocaine users who
had a heart attack were 44 years old on average, compared with a natonal
average of 61 for the United States.

Research has shown adrenaline-like drugs can trigger health problems such
as increased heart rate, high blood pressure and stroke.