FREQUENT COCAINE USE TIED TO HEART ATTACKS - STUDY

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Frequent cocaine use slowly causes blood vessels to
become inflamed and clotting to begin, increasing the risk a person could
suffer a heart attack or stroke, researchers said on Wednesday.

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

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.

"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," Dr. Arthur Siegel of Harvard's McLean Hospital, who led the study,
said in a statement.

"Instead of just the transient risk that goes away after a single usage, the
regular dependent user had an inflammatory response in their system that
persisted," Siegel added in an interview.

"It means they are at a constant, ongoing risk of having a clotting event,
and (levels of) the C-reactive protein that went up has shown to be
associated with sudden cardiac death," he said.

C-reactive proteins are linked to thickening in the arteries, and as levels
go up, they seem to overwhelm the efforts of the body's natural
blood-thinners. The result -- more blood clots.

Siegel and his colleagues monitored the balance of these 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 called von Willebrand Factor and fibrinogen, were
higher in those who used the drug on a regular basis.

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

Siegel said C-reactive protein, also found in diabetics, could be measured
to help cocaine users determine how severe their addiction is and monitor
their improvement as they wean themselves off the drug.

Drugs that lower cholesterol, called statins, also could benefit cocaine
users, Siegel said.

"There's evidence that statins can decrease C-reactive protein," said
Siegel, whose report is published in the American Journal of Cardiology.

An estimated 1.2 million Americans used cocaine in 2000, the U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services said.