Part C: Cardiovascular Risk

  • Paul overcame his drug addiction and faced challenges with chronic back pain
  • Understood the importance of health and scheduled a routine check-up as he approached middle age
  • Doctor inquired about prior opioid use and expressed concern about Paul’s cardiovascular health
  • Highlighted potential increased cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk due to substance misuse history
  • Screening process revealed elevated CVD risk

Risk Factors For CVD

  • Prior Drug Addiction
  • Chronic Back Pain
  • Stress
  • Mental Health
  • Insomnia
  • Previous Rehabilitation Medications
Illustrates the Mechanistic Framework for Cardiovascular Complications of Opioids. Shows comparison between Natural and Synthetic Opioids.
CC Public Domain https://www.jacc.org/doi/10.1016/j.jacc.2020.11.002

Physical Inactivity Relapse Related to Opioid Use and CVD

  • Long-term opioid usage is linked to both anatomical and functional alterations in the brain
  • Patients with OUDs have benefited from supplementary physical activity programs.
  • Exercise acts initially as a factor of internal activation and self-regulation
  • For the maintenance of opioid use, exercise prescriptions are advised as an adjunct to traditional therapy
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10003472/#:~:text=Overall%2C%20regular%20exercise%20can%20reduce,%2C%20and%20transporters%20%5B92%5D

Prevention

  • Lifestyle changes(exercise, diet, etc)
  • Regular CVD monitoring
  • Medication Management
  • Collaborative care
  • Continued support and counseling
Flow diagram of the Development of CVD and possible prevention by a Healthy Diet.
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/disease-prevention/cardiovascular-disease/preventing-cvd/

License

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Multi-Course Case Studies in Health Sciences (Version 2) Copyright © 2021 by Laura Banks; Elita Partosoedarso; Manon Lemonde; Robert Balogh; Adam Cole; Mika Nonoyama; Otto Sanchez; Sarah West; Sarah Stokes; Syed Qadri; Robin Kay; Mary Chiu; and Lynn Zhu is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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