Effects of opium consumption on cardiometabolic diseases

ABSTRACT Opium is the second-most-commonly abused substance (after tobacco) in developing countries of the Middle East region, and in many Asian nations. One of the reasons for the high

prevalence of opium abuse in these countries is a traditional belief among Eastern people, even including some medical staff, that opium might have beneficial effects on cardiovascular

health and in the control of diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and dyslipidaemia. In this Perspectives article, we summarize the current understanding of the pharmacotoxicology of opium and

its specific effects on glycaemic control, blood pressure, lipid profile, and atherosclerosis. On the basis of the available evidence, we believe not only that opium has no ameliorating

effect on cardiovascular diseases, but also that the use of this drug might have adverse effects on these conditions. Therefore, people should be educated about the hazardous effects of

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS N. Sarrafzadegan is currently on sabbatical at the Faculty of Medicine, School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4,

Canada. AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * Department of Cardiology, Tehran Heart Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Karegar Shomali Street, Jalal al-Ahmad Cross,

Tehran, 14117-13138, Iran Farzad Masoudkabir * Isfahan Cardiovascular Research Center, Cardiovascular Research Institute, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, PO box 81465-1148, Isfahan,

Iran Nizal Sarrafzadegan * Divisions of Cardiology and Clinical Epidemiology, Jewish General Hospital/McGill University, 3755 Cote Sainte Catherine Road, Montreal, H3T 1E2, QC, Canada Mark

J. Eisenberg Authors * Farzad Masoudkabir View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Nizal Sarrafzadegan View author publications You can also

search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Mark J. Eisenberg View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar CONTRIBUTIONS F. Masoudkabir and N.

Sarrafzadegan researched data for the article, and all the authors discussed its content. F. Masoudkabir wrote the article, and all the authors revised/edited the manuscript before

submission. CORRESPONDING AUTHOR Correspondence to Nizal Sarrafzadegan. ETHICS DECLARATIONS COMPETING INTERESTS The authors declare no competing financial interests. POWERPOINT SLIDES

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THIS ARTICLE Masoudkabir, F., Sarrafzadegan, N. & Eisenberg, M. Effects of opium consumption on cardiometabolic diseases. _Nat Rev Cardiol_ 10, 733–740 (2013).

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