Dr. Howard Smith Oncall

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/-81VImw-zEo   The prevalence of heart infections, bacterial infestations of the valves and cardiac linings known as endocarditis, have nearly doubled in drug abusers.  Cardiologists at the Cleveland Clinic studied nearly 1 million hospitalized patients with this disorder to understand the causes.   The drug users who developed bacterial endocarditis were predominately young, white men with incomes among the lowest 25%.  They had higher rates of concurrent hepatitis C, alcohol abuse, and HIV infection compared with non-drug abusing cardiac patients.  They were more likely to require heart surgery and had longer hospital stays and higher health care expenses.   Bacterial heart infections occur when germs enter the bloodstream, usually from reused and contaminated drug paraphernalia.  If you must use drugs, hopefully to withdraw from them, consume them by mouth.  If not, enlist help from clinicians to obtain sterile equipment.   Amer N. Kadri, Bryan Wilner, Adrian V. Hernandez, Georges