Updated at 3:52 p.m., Saturday, February 17, 2007
'Ice' linked to heart problems in Honolulu study
Advertiser Staff
University of Hawai'i medical researchers have linked, for the first time, use of crystal methamphetamine, or "ice," to severe heart problems.
The study found that out of 143 Honolulu men under the age of 45 who were hospitalized with serious heart problems, 40 percent were ice users. The study took place between 2001 and mid-2004.
"This represents the first scientific documentation of the profound cardiac effects of ice on young people," says Dr. Irwin Schatz, of the John A. Burns School of Medicine.
"Ice should now take its place, along with alcohol, as a major cause of heart disease in our community," said Schatz, a cardiologist at the medical school.
Lead author of the study is Khung-Keong Yeo of the University of California, Davis Medical Center. Other co-authors, in addition to Schatz, are Hiroki Ito, M.D.; Kevin Tay, M.D.; Todd Seto, M.D.; Jimmy Efird, Ph.D.; Kavitha Alimineti; and Chieko Kimata. Another study co-author is Mevan Wijetunga, M.D., of Washington, D.C.
The findings are published in the current issue of the American Journal of Medicine.
