Cocaine users' higher risk of non-fatal heart attacks

COCAINE use is responsible for one in four non-fatal heart attacks among people under the age of 45, according to a new study.

In a damning report which lays bare the damage caused by the class A drug, researchers have warned addicts they may not realise the "silent" harm it is causing, as there are no symptoms.

Having examined long-term users of the drug with no history or signs of heart disease, they found worrying evidence of how their health had suffered.

The study of dozens of users found that along with a quarter of non-fatal heart attacks, use of cocaine was responsible for more than three out of every 100 sudden deaths.

The team of researchers from the G Monasterio Foundation in Pisa, Italy discovered that more than eight in ten users (83 per cent) had sustained structural damage to their heart thanks to their habit. They said heart attacks are diagnosed in up to six per cent of subjects taken to hospital with chest pain associated with cocaine use.