Prescription stimulants are remarkably safe in sensible doses—they make the hear... | Hacker News

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Daniel_Newby on March 16, 2013 | parent | context | favorite | on: What it’s like to die

Prescription stimulants are remarkably safe in sensible doses—they make the heart beat faster but do little to destabilize it.

The stimulant risk comes from cocaine, which directly interferes with electricity by jamming sodium channels shut.

Alex3917 on March 16, 2013 [–]

They're relatively safe for any given individual, but overall they're still a huge factor in sudden cardiac arrest at this age.

Daniel_Newby on March 16, 2013 | [–]

A few minutes with PubMed turns up no causal relationship. One study did find a sudden cardiac death odds ratio of ~2, but the dose response curve was flat suggesting lack of causality.

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