United States: According to scientific studies and Maricopa County’s Heat-Related Illness and Death Dashboard, it is found that Meth use itself could be a cause of experiencing heat stroke, leading to even death even when used at room temperature.
More about the finding
The experts state that the drug causes havoc within the body’s heat-regulation systems, posing motion to generate internal heat inside the body.
Phoenix touted as America’s hottest city, where summer temps generally exceed 110 degrees, amphetamines – mostly meth, were either seen as a primary cause of death or are related to as the cause in fifty-one percent of the record 645 heat deaths in Maricopa County last year.
In the county, a total of 645 included both heat-caused and heat-related deaths, USA Today reported.
Association of Meth with local heat deaths
According to Maricopa County Heat-Related Death Reports data, substance use significantly exacerbates the toll of heat-related deaths in summer in metro Phoenix.
Moreover, the usage of takeaway substances and the record heat-related death in Maricopa County last year reached 226, or 35 percent of 2023’s total of 645.
According to Dr. Frank LoVecchio, an emergency physician, “If there were any drug out there that makes you more prone to heat or heat-related illness, it’s very hard to think of any other drug besides meth,” USA Today reported.
Moreover, Meth is also a major factor in the rising numbers in the past two years of contact burn on sideways and streets, which could even reach up to 180 degrees, as showed the study of cases by Valleywise Health shows.
The other drugs with amphetamines, such as MDMA, or drugs for ADHD, like Adderall, could also pose a danger. Drugs could cause dehydration.
A study conducted in 2022 suggested that healthcare workers can use coral calcium hydride, which is “a newly identified hydrogen-rich powder,” to meth users experiencing hyperthermia.
This compound would “inhibit meth-induced depression-like behaviors” and reduce brain damage, said the study.