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How Heroin Negatively Affects Your Body

How Heroin Negatively Affects Your Body

Thousands of people die from heroin overdoses every year. Heroin usage has dramatically increased over the last decade alone. Part of the reason why more people are using the illicit drug is that they started with an addiction to prescription pills. When these people can no longer get their prescriptions, they turn to heroin for the same pain relief. However, many don’t understand just how detrimental heroin use is to their physical well-being. This brief article will explain how heroin negatively affects your body. Hopefully, more individuals will begin to grasp how harmful the substance truly is.

Heroin & Your Brain

Heroin destroys the human brain. Specifically, repeated heroin usage leads to the deterioration of white matter in the brain. People need an ample amount of white matter in their minds to aid in decision-making, appropriately respond to stress, and control their behaviors. Once white matter becomes deteriorated, people are less likely to make competent decisions. Moreover, they can act irrationally and become ill-equipped to handle stressful situations. Essentially, repeated heroin usage can alter a person’s entire personality. Heroin usage also has simpler, yet similarly disturbing, effects on the human brain. Heroin users often experience depression, drowsiness, and clouded thinking. If you want to maintain your cognitive health, you must stop using heroin immediately.

Heroin & Your Skin

People typically inject heroin directly into their veins. This is incredibly dangerous for a variety of reasons. For starters, repeated needle usage can create severe skin infections. Further, heroin users usually have needle tracks down their entire arms. This can sometimes lead to open sore and skin infections. If not treated properly, these infections can enter the bloodstream and create even more serious issues. Moreover, it’s essential to keep your veins as healthy as possible. No one should inject anything freely into their veins, let alone an illicit drug. Repeated heroin usage will destroy your skin and veins, as well as possibly create extreme health issues down the line.

Heroin-Related Infections

Heroin users are at a higher risk of contracting infections, such as HIV. Since heroin users inject the drug into their veins using a needle, they put themselves at a higher risk of infection. These needles normally aren’t clean, and users typically exchange needles every time they use. Thus, these people are much more likely to contract the virus than non-users. If you suspect a loved one is using heroin, please offer your help and support. The expert team at Teststock wants to do our part in helping contain the widespread heroin epidemic in this country. We sell top of the line drug testing materials, such as 16-panel drug tests, that’ll detect opiate usage up to three days prior. Please, ask your loved one to take the test so you can start to get them the help they need.

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