Cocaine effects on the Digestive System Pt. 1

• Cocaine can affect your digestive system causing Ingestion. People who ingest cocaine might experience less blood flow to the digestive system, resulting in bowel gangrene.
• Acute ischemic syndromes are the most prominent gastrointestinal complication of cocaine use. Severe ischemia results from intense activation of alpha-adrenergic receptors in the mesentery. This ischemia results in gastro pyloric ulcerations, gangrene and perforation of small as well as large intestine and colitis.
• The tendency of cocaine to cause blood clots can also contribute to intestinal problems. If a blood clot forms in the arteries feeding blood to the intestines, this blockage can also result in the development of gangrene.

Cocaine effects on the Digestive System Pt. 2

• Cocaine users have also been found to suffer from ulcers and perforations of the stomach and intestines, especially those who smoke crack.
• Cocaine use causes blood vessels to constrict which limits the blood flow to different parts of the body. This is what causes thickening of the heart muscle that leads to heart failure or heart attack. When the blood vessels of the intestines are constricted, sections of the intestines sometimes die which then permits gangrene to develop. If surgery is not performed immediately, death will result.