Meth Use Tied to Heart Attacks in Largest Analysis of Relationship to Date

Methamphetamine use was involved in nearly one in six heart attacks treated at a Silicon Valley safety-net hospital, according to a new study that highlights the link between repeated drug use and cardiac disease.

The patients who used meth were twice as likely to die from a heart attack as those who didn’t, despite being younger and having fewer risk factors like diabetes or obesity, the study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association found. Researchers analyzed the records of more than a thousand patients treated between 2012 and 2022 at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in San Jose, California, to better understand the risks as meth use increases.