Significance

• According to the National Institutes of Health, in 2005 more than 8 percent of Americans over age 12 used any illegal drug in the previous year. A 2007 survey by the National Institute on Drug Addiction showed that 14.8 percent of 8th through 12th graders had used drugs in the past month. Although drug abuse is often thought of as only a mental health issue, it can have severe consequences on the body.
  
  

Types

• According to the Mayo Clinic, the symptoms of drug abuse may involve both physical health and mental health.
  
  Physical symptoms of drug abuse may include effects on the function of the brain and other organs in the body. Unborn children of pregnant women who use drugs may have symptoms of drug withdrawal at birth. Other physical symptoms of drug abuse may include damage directly related to the mode of using the drug, such as damage to the nose for inhaled drugs or skin marks or lesions from injected drugs.
  
  Mental symptoms of drug abuse include behavioral changes, memory lapses and personality disorders.
  
  

Features

• According to the National Institute on Drug Addiction, the range of symptoms of drug abuse on the body depend on the method of drug use, the drug being abused and the frequency and extent of drug abuse.
  
  Neurological symptoms of drug abuse include paranoia, hallucinations, memory problems, aggression, depression, seizures, stroke, and brain damage. Respiratory symptoms of drug abuse include asthma, emphysema and lung cancer. Cardiac symptoms of drug abuse include abnormal heartbeat, collapsed veins and heart attack. Symptoms of drug abuse on unborn babies include miscarriage, premature birth, low birth weight, and behavioral problems. Gastrointestinal symptoms of drug abuse include nausea or vomiting, pain, and liver and kidney damage.
  
  

Effects

• According to the National Institute on Drug Addiction, another symptom of drug abuse is an increase of risky behaviors such as sharing needles or other drug equipment or having unsafe sex, which may spread infectious diseases such as HIV and Hepatitis B and C. Symptoms of drug abuse may also include doing things that a person wouldn't normally do, such as stealing money to buy drugs, pawning items for drug money, or missing work or school to get high.
  
  

Considerations

• Symptoms of drug abuse may be more pronounced if more than one drug is being abused. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the combined effects of alcohol and heroin may damage the liver significantly more than the abuse of one of those drugs would. Mental health symptoms resulting from drug abuse such as aggression and suicidal thoughts may result in harm to people other than the person abusing drugs.
  
  

Theories/Speculation

• According to the Mayo Clinic, some of the symptoms of drug abuse may be caused by reactions to the drug as well as changes in the brain. Symptoms of abuse such as doing risky things to get drugs or maintain a drug high are thought to be caused by effects of the drugs on the pleasure and reward centers in the brain. People with a family history of drug abuse--or who have existing mental health conditions--are more likely to show symptoms of drug abuse.
  
  

Warning

• Drugs such as inhalants that act quickly on the brain may cause rapid loss of consciousness or death, without any preceding symptoms. According to the National Institutes of Health, using cocaine even once can result in a fatal heart attack due to overdose. Some symptoms of drug abuse may be permanent and irreversible, such as infertility caused by steroid abuse and liver or kidney damage resulting from multiple types of drugs.