Habitually drinking an excess of alcohol can lead to high blood pressure, heart failure and an increased calorie intake. Consuming too many calories can lead to obesity and a higher risk of developing diabetes. Binge drinking can lead to a stroke. Other serious health problems include fetal alcohol syndrome, cardiomyopathy (deterioration of the heart muscle), cardiac arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat) and sudden death by cardiac arrest.

Alcohol and drug use significantly affect the incidence of heart disease. Taxation on the heart muscle from drug-induced arrhythmia and tachycardia (rapid heartbeat) can cause weakening of the heart muscle and walls. Heart attack survivors who continue to drink even moderate levels of alcohol can do yet more damage the heart muscle, raising their risk of fatality or repeated heart attack. Both alcohol and drugs raise blood pressure, putting the heart further at risk for heart attacks or a stroke. Heavy drinking also puts more fat into circulation in the body, thereby raising triglygeride levels.

Cocaine use kills many people in the United States. Many are killed by cocaine's effect on the heart.

Several cardiovascular complications are closely related to cocaine abuse. These include chest pain syndromes, heart attacks, strokes, and fatal and non-fatal arrhythmias. Other symptoms can include:

• myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle)

• endocarditis (inflammation of the inner lining of the heart)

• pulmonary edema (fluid in the lungs)

• vascular thrombosis (blood clots in blood vessels)

• cardiomyopathy

Some of these possibly fatal complications can occur in a first-time user. Older people with abnormal coronary arteries and diseased blood vessels in the brain vessels who use cocaine are at even higher risk. Cocaine is twice as for pregnant women. Not only can it cause cardiovascular complications, but also birth defects.

Due to its increasingly popularity and ease of purchase, the number of cocaine-related cardiovascular disabilities and deaths are on the rise. Notably, using crack cocaine, which is cheaper, stronger, and widely available, leads to even more strokes and heart attacks in younger people usually not at risk.

Injecting drugs intravenously (IV) can cause endocarditis. Treatment requires a hospital stay and medication for several weeks. This infection can lead to acute heart failure, a heart attack or a stroke, all of which can be fatal. IV drugs can also cause permanent liver damage from hepatitis C, and increase the chance of infection with HIV, which can lead to AIDS.