Addiction and Your Physical Health

Addiction and your physical health problems can plague you for many years to come. One of the physical health issues of extended substance abuse is a poor immune system. The substance starts to break down the system after the user has been addicted to the substance for several weeks or months. 

For this reason, drug abuse can have a severe, life-changing impact on a person. During an outbreak like the COVID-19, a person is vulnerable to the virus and can exhibit symptoms that are dangerous to their health. For this reason, it is important to understand the correlation between addiction and your physical health, and why you need to get treatment for substance abuse today. Read on to learn how a treatment center like Lucida can help you during this time. 

Addiction and Your Physical Health: How Drugs Affect the Body 

Different types of drugs or alcohol affect your body in different ways. As such, the connection between addiction and your physical health depends on what type of substance you consume. Drugs can have both short-term and long-term effects. Short-term effects may include overdose and side effects. A long-term effect would be an addiction, declining health, or dependency.

Some different ways that drugs affect the body include: 

Depressants

Depressants are named for how they slow down the central nervous system and body function. A person will take a depressant to relax or manage anxiety. Long-term depressant use can affect coordination, concentration, and immunity. Depressants can suppress the immune system and keep it from doing its job.

Hallucinogens

A hallucinogen can affect how you perceive reality. Hallucinogens may include LSD, PCP, mushrooms, ketamine. Long-term use of hallucinogens can affect cognitive ability as well as the body’s ability to fight off infections. They may also lead to psychosis. 

Stimulants

Stimulants range from caffeine and nicotine to cocaine, methamphetamines, and MDMA. These drugs are designed to spark energy or alertness in an individual. However, they often cause heart, liver, and lung problems, as well as reduced appetite and sleep deprivation. 

COVID-19, Addiction, and Your Physical Health

The lower your immune system is, the more difficult it becomes to fight off infections like coronavirus. It also leaves you vulnerable to getting the coronavirus. There are numerous factors that determine the connection between your drug use and your immune system such as: 

• The type of drug and how much of it you use
• Whether the drug is natural or synthetic
• Your body chemistry and genes
• How often you take the drug
• Whether you mix the drug with other drugs or alcohol
• How you ingest the substance (smoking, injecting, etc.) 

Although the coronavirus continues to spread, it should not deter you from getting help for your addiction. Addiction can lead to an overdose which can, in turn, cause severe side effects such as elevated heart rate, high blood pressure, stroke, seizures, poor immunity, severe depression and anxiety, and other life-altering health problems. Many of the health issues related to addiction are terminal and can lead to overall poor quality of life.

All of these factors affect your overall health and whether you can fight off the coronavirus or other diseases/viruses. Your best option is to end your addiction and seek treatment at an addiction treatment center.

Contact Lucida Treatment

If you need help with addiction, contact Lucida Treatment Center at 1.866.947.7299. We can discuss your addiction and your physical health, as well as give you options for treatment. We will formulate a plan for recovery that is based on each individual person. Contact us today and we can also discuss the risks of contracting the coronavirus and telehealth options.