3 to 4 cases reported every day in major private hospitals

Islamabad: The recent increase in use of powerful street drugs particularly Methamphetamine usually known as Crystal or angel dust has reached alarming proportions here in the federal capital as the tertiary care hospitals are regularly receiving patients with overdose or toxicity of the drug.

Crystal methamphetamine having the most common street names of ‘ice’ or ‘glass’ is one of the most toxic chemical and once used, the addiction and dependence develops quicker than any of the other illicit drugs.

Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) has received well over 40 patients with crystal meth overdose or toxicity in emergency during the last four months. In Maroof international hospital, a private hospital in Islamabad, as many as 47 patients were received in last six months of which three patients required intensive care management while the rest were discharged after emergency treatment.

Data about the patients reaching private hospitals operating in the federal capital with crystal meth overdose or toxicity is more alarming with three to four cases being presented every day on average in emergency departments of almost all major private hospitals, said Senior Consultant Intensive Care Medicine at PIMS Dr. Muhammad Haroon while talking to ‘The News’ on Friday.

He added that in majority of the cases in which the drug’s overdose or toxicity claims a life, the cause of death remains undocumented generally because of co-morbidities involved. Crystal meth or methamphetamine also called as angel dust is a white crystalline drug that people take by snorting it (inhaling through the nose), smoking it or injecting it with a needle. Some even take it orally, but all develop a strong desire to continue using it because the drug creates a false sense of happiness and well-being -- a rush (strong feeling) of confidence, hyper-activeness and energy. Studies reveal that the first experience might involve some pleasure, but from the start, methamphetamine begins to destroy the user’s life.

Studies reveal that methamphetamine is a dangerous and potent chemical and, as with all illicit drugs, a poison that first acts as a stimulant but then begins to systematically destroy the body. Thus it is associated with serious health conditions, including memory loss, aggression, psychotic behaviour and potential heart and brain damage.

Numerous vascular complications may occur like dissection of aorta, heart attack, acute ischemia and loss of blood supply to body organs causing multi-organ dysfunction, said Dr. Haroon.

He added that life-threatening rhythm disorders of heart are a common cause of admission in ICU in such patients. The lungs may rupture causing pneumothorax, pneumonia and ARDS that is a serious condition with 100 per cent mortality if remains untreated in time, he explained.