I'm not exactly clear on what your specific question is...but I can try(?) and answer what it is I think you may be asking.
My interest in this thread is concerning the immediate short term dangers of meth to those that are deemed to be living in an "unhealthy" way by society..
For example, overweight, sedentary etc
Methamphetamine Effects
Methamphetamine produces a wide variety of physiological and behavioral/psychological effects in humans. It is important to be mindful of the fact that the incidence and prevalence of methamphetamine’s individual physiological, behavioral and psychological effects are dose-dependant and can differ significantly from one person to the next in a given population of users.
Physiological
Anorexia (Loss of appetite)
Insomnia (Inability to sleep, disrupted sleep architecture)
Mydriasis (dilated pupils)
Headache
Diaphoresis (excessive sweating)
Tachycardia (dangerously rapid heart rate)
Bradycardia (dangerously slow heart rate)
Trismus (jaw-clenching)
Bruxia (teeth-grinding)
Agitation/Restlessness
Increased energy
Sexual arousal
Xerostomia (dry mouth)
At higher doses, or in individuals predisposed to cardiovascular conditions, the physiological effects of methamphetamine may become much more severe, and may include:
Palpitations
Arrhythmias (irregular heartbeat)
Convulsions
Heart attack
Stroke
Death
Behavioral & Psychological
Euphoria
Increased confidence/sociability
Increased reaction time
Increase in compulsive behaviors
Lowered inhibitions
Increase in selective attention
Increase in motivation
Improved reflexes
Empathy, feelings of openness
Aggression
Irritability
Anxiety/Panic
Depression
*Long-term, continuous use of methamphetamine can result in a debilitating mental state known as “amphetamine psychosis” that closely mimics the symptoms of paranoid schizophrenia. The incidence of psychosis produced my chronic methamphetamine use is generally higher than that produced by amphetamine. Symptoms of amphetamine psychosis include megalomania (inflated ego, sense of power), paranoid delusions, sensory hallucinations (generally auditory and tactile, but can include visual and olfactory hallucinations), depersonalization, violence and homicidal/suicidal ideations.
Negative Short-Term Side Effects
Increased blood pressure
Increased respiration
Hyperthermia
Anorexia
Insomnia
Paranoia
Irritability
Emotional lability
Repetitive, obsessive-compulsive behaviors
Mydriasis (dilated pupils)
Diaphoresis (excessive sweating)
Nausea
Tremors
Dry mouth
Poor oral hygiene
Headache
Bruxism (jaw clenching)
Seizures
Sudden death (cardiac arrest)
Negative Long-Term Side Effects
Muscular degeneration
Loss of bone density
Impairment of oral hygiene
Heart palpitations
Respiratory irritation
Constipation
Cramping
Dehydration
Diarrhea
Malnutrition
Anorexia & weight loss
Headache
Kidney infections
Bladder infections
Stroke
Death
Monoamine receptor down-regulation
Compromised functioning of monoamine transporters
Neurotoxicity resulting from oxidative stress
High blood pressure
Persistent anxiety
Insomnia
Psychosis (including sensory hallucinations and paranoid delusions)
Homicidal/Suicidal ideation
Compromised immune system
Cracked teeth
Sores, skin infections and acne from poor hygiene and compulsive picking behavior
Liver damage
Increase in risk-taking behavior
Injury to the fetus if used prematurely; injuries include premature birth, infant cardiac defects and cleft palate, among others
VS.
Health Risks of being Overweight
Weighing too much may increase your risk for developing many health problems. If you are overweight or obese, you may be at risk for:
type 2 diabetes
coronary heart disease and stroke
metabolic syndrome
certain types of cancer
sleep apnea
osteoarthritis
gallbladder disease
fatty liver disease
pregnancy complications
more specifically:
Cancers: A postmenopausal woman doubles her risk for breast cancer if she gained as little as 20 pounds before menopause. Almost half of all breast cancer cases occur among obese women. The endometrial cancer risk among postmenopausal women also increases with weight gain, and being overweight increases the chances by one and a half times that a woman will die from her cancer.
Diabetes: Nearly 80 percent of people with type 2 diabetes are obese. This disease is particularly linked to weight gain after the age of 18. Even overweight children are getting the kind of diabetes that used to be associated only with overweight adults.
Losing as little as 10 pounds can reduce your risk by 30 percent. And for those who already have type 2 diabetes, reducing body weight by as little as 5 percent can significantly improve blood glucose levels. Weight loss may also improve insulin sensitivity, which means that cells respond more efficiently to insulin.
Gallbladder disease: The incidence of gallstones soars as a person’s body weight increases. A middle-aged woman who is more than 40 percent over her ideal body weight has a 33 percent greater chance of having gallstones than a lean woman of the same age.
Heart disease: Nearly 70 percent of the diagnosed cases of heart disease are related to obesity. A weight gain of 20 pounds doubles your risk of heart disease. Fortunately, though, reducing your weight by only 5 to 10 percent increases your HDL levels while reducing LDL and triglyceride levels.
Hypertension (high blood pressure): Being obese more than doubles your chances of developing high blood pressure. Statistics show that approximately 70 percent of obese American men and women have high blood pressure.
Respiratory problems: Respiratory complications, such as sleep apnea, are linked to obesity. Losing 10 to 15 percent of body weight can cure apnea.
Osteoarthritis: Being overweight or obese increases your risk for getting this painful disease, causing the bone and cartilage in your joints to degenerate. One study reported that a weight gain of 9 to 13 pounds increased the pain in the knees of arthritis sufferers. On the flip side, losing the same amount decreases the odds of getting arthritis by 50 percent.
Psychological and social effects: Overweight people often face discrimination at work and in social settings. Feelings of rejection, shame, or depression aren’t uncommon. Also, American society equates thinness with attractiveness.
I was wondering if there was any information in this regard and if the risk factors are more around pre existing conditions or if unhealthy living has any significant impact beyond the presumed and logical one.
As a basic example, is it likely that an overweight un fit individual is very much more likely to suffer a heart attack then a healthy fit person.
There is endless amounts of information on side effects of pretty much anything one can think of.
As always, lists of possible side effects (like the ones I listed above) are just that:
possible. In one individual, s/he could experience every side effect in the book. Individual #2 may experience only one or two side effects. It's nearly impossible to give a definitive answer to the question(s) you're asking because different things happen to different people, and there's no way to guarantee what will or will not happen to somebody. Even after a doctor goes through 8-12 years of rigorous college and residency, a doctor can open a business called a "practice" because that's what they are doing, is PRACTICING medicine. No doctors open a business called "fact docs" because even a doctor who has been practicing medicine for 30 some years could come in contact with a disease they've never seen before, a side effect not listed "in the book," miracles, phenomenons, etc. Everyone is different. Even if two people were damn near exactly the same on paper (same weight, same sex, age, weight, height, location, habits, etc etc) maybe one of them ate macaroni for lunch and one ate tuna fish and it caused something to go wrong inside their body (a stupid example, but you get the point...) The variances in people are endless, resulting in endless possibilities.
As an example, we can use myself. I have been both overweight (by the book) and addicted to methamphetamines. Let's compare me overweight vs. me addicted to methamphetamines:
Me Overweight
Endless risk for disease and cancer, etc (see side effects of being overweight listed above)
Extremely unhappy
Exacerbated depression
Fear of being in public
Missed work (see fear of being in public)
Alcoholic
High frequency of marijuana use
Good friends
Lack of sex
Extreme insecurities
Constantly tired, listless
Excessive Sleep
Loss of menstrual period
Normal/slightly high blood pressure (before weight gain, it was normal or slightly below normal)
Exacerbated back problems (I have scoliosis, spondylolisthesis, arthritis of the spine, multiple bulging discs)
Opiate use (prescribed because of said back problems)
Exercised at least 5x/week
VS.
Me on Methamphetamine
Many health risks that I was not at risk for before use (see methamphetamine side effects above)
Higher resting heart rate
Increased self-esteem
Little to no depression
No agoraphobia (fear of being in public)
60 lb. weight loss (mostly good, except a good chunk of that weight is loss of muscle tissue)
High blood pressure
Less back pain (from weight loss and being that methamphetamine is an analgesic)
Little to no missed work (however, I am always late now)
Increased sexual activity (the desire has always been the same, however now I am not so humiliated by my naked self)
Little to no exercise
Same good friends (although I may see some less, see family a bit less, and have a few 'new friends')
Ability to get MUCH more work done (I opened my own business while working a different full time job)
No marijuana use
No alcohol consumption
Very little to no opiate use (I use only when my back REALLY hurts and I am almost immobile)
Resumed normal monthly menstruation
I, along with others, would consider myself a pretty careful meth user. I maintain my jobs, don't steal, and appear "normal" (hahahaha) to those who have no idea that I use (which is pretty much everyone, I can count on one hand the people who know I use, and those are people that I use with.) I am careful to eat, and although I don't like to sleep, I squeeze it in there when I know I need to.
It's really a horse-a-piece; which problems are 'worse?' Which quality of life is 'better?' It's in the eye of the beholder, really.
Based on my knowledge on "meth zombies", you can go a long way on the substance, into deep levels of "unhealthyness" , without any form of catastrophic failure or death, heart/stroke related, if no pre existing conditions?
well, yeah...any shitty, unhealthy lifestyle can be "maintained" for a long period of time. However, there's probably going to be a breaking point. With meth specifically, it's very likely that something 'catastrophic' may happen, weather it be physical or social. Pre/existing conditions...well, having a pre existing condition that is adverse to methamphetamine use will indefinitely increase one's risk for specific side effects, but to say that there is an indefinite result? No...as I said earlier, it's almost impossible to predict what would exactly happen because everyone is different.
