brain disease

[koolaide]

can methamphetamine cause microvasular disease of the brain

[caregiver222]

Yes, and worse than that.

The street drugs are often prepared without regard to the proper ph, for example, and what is called "amphetamine" may or may not be amphetamine.

I will concur with ggreg that street meth is one of the most dangerous habits a person could have. With every dose you are causing irreversible brain damage.

I was once tasked with photographing brain slices of meth addicts post-autopsy.  The damage is obvious and horrifying.

[ggreg]

Oh, yes, and a whole lot more damage on top of that, too.  Forget about vascular disease...if you abuse this drug, you are going to die, plain and simple, that is the absolute for sure outcome of meth abuse.  Or you could wind up psychotic and in an insane asylum.  I've seen the insides of those places in psych films when I used to study that, and they are SO stark, SO sad, and not too friendly neighbors.  Or the lead in the stuff will fix it so you are no longer an intelligent person but you become retarded.  Then there's jail time, because inevitably, if you get addicted, which usually happens the FIRST TIME you use it, you'll steal and deal to stay high, and the police are all about catching criminals, they DO NOT STOP until they have their man.  Or if the police haven't quite got to you yet, you will for certain get violent and hurt somebody, and NOBODY gets away with that, not even the mob.  

And if you'll just think about this for a minute, your heart races when you do the stuff, feel-good serotonin is released ten-fold, and given a couple years of abuse, you WILL have heart damage, which makes you unbelievably tired, and your emotions will go flat for a long, long time.  If you are thinking about using, find something ELSE you like to do.  Meth is the most dangerous drug EVER to come down the pike, worse than heroin, and we all know we cannot do heroin, or else.  If you've only used it once or twice, good, you're lucky, you can quit now and the addiction will pass in about six months, and you'll be free and will not suffer physical and mental hardships.  But if you've been fooling with this stuff for a year, son, you got a long row to hoe.  If you've been at this for a year and do not believe me or do not want to believe me, just look in the mirror.  See those scars?  See how thin you're getting?  How does your hair look?  This means you are injecting poison on a regular basis, and no one in their right mind would do that.  Oh, I forgot one more thing, how about some HIV virus to where you get AIDS?  Sharing needles happens all the time, you get so high you don't care, but your future wife or husband is gonna care, and so will any children you have, cuz they'll wind up with it too, since it's a blood-borne disease.  

A little bleeding in the brain is the least of the problems with meth.  Quit while you can, you'll need help, just call the Crisis Intervention number in the front of every phone book in the country, and they'll guide you where to go to get straight.  You'll need detox meds to keep from losing your mind, and you'll need miles of support to resist that raging addiction, which if you're using now, you know exactly what I'm talking about.  God bless and do the right thing.