- Posted April 30, 2026
Meth Caused 1 In 6 Heart Attacks Over A Decade, Study Finds
Methamphetamine played a role in 1 out of 6 heart attacks treated at a Northern California hospital, a new study says.
These heart attacks occurred among younger adults with relatively good heart health, highlighting the risk posed by meth, researchers said in the study published April 29 in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
“Even though meth users were generally younger and didn’t have typical cardiovascular disease-related conditions like high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes or obesity, they were twice as likely to die after a heart attack when compared to non-users,” said lead researcher Dr. Susan Zhao, medical director of the Coronary Care Unit at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in San Jose, California.
“People who use meth need to be aware of the serious health risks associated with it, and medical professionals should closely monitor heart attacks in patients who appear healthy and lack typical risk factors, such as type 2 diabetes or high cholesterol,” she said in a news release.
For the study, researchers reviewed the medical records of more than 1,300 heart attack patients ages 18 to 65 treated at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, a public safety-net hospital, between 2012 and 2022.
Of those patients, nearly 200 were users of meth, a highly addictive stimulant. Most meth in the United States is illegally made and usually comes in powder or crystals known as “crystal meth,” researchers said in background notes.
Overall, meth use accounted for about 15% of heart attacks, or 1 in every 6, the study found.
Meth users tended to be younger than other heart attack victims, with a median age of 52 versus 57, researchers found. (Median means half were older, half were younger.) Most were men, with only 15% women.
They were less likely to have common risk factors for heart disease like high cholesterol or diabetes, but were more likely to smoke, drink and be homeless, the study found.
For example, meth users were less likely to need to undergo a procedure to reopen clogged arteries, because their heart attack didn’t involve such a blockage. Only 59% needed to have an artery reopened, compared to 75% of non-users.
Meth users also were more likely to be readmitted to the hospital for repeat heart attacks, with 42% having another heart attack versus 27% for non-users, researchers found.
Overall, meth users who had a heart attack were twice as likely to die from any cause, results showed.
“As meth use rises on the West Coast of the U.S. and this trend moves eastward, heart attacks associated with meth use will increasingly occur in areas beyond California,” Zhao said.
“We want to raise awareness that acute coronary syndrome and meth use affect different groups of people, such as young to middle-aged men without traditional risk factors,” she continued, adding that these groups have different risks and health issues and may also have a higher risk of dying from them.
“These findings show that we need specific prevention and treatment plans for meth users — a vulnerable and high-risk group," Zhao said. "New plans should also focus on helping people stop using meth.”
Robert Page II, a professor of clinical pharmacy and physical medicine and rehabilitation at the University of Colorado, agreed that “methamphetamine is becoming a major risk factor" for premature heart disase in young adults.
“It is important to understand that methamphetamine can harm the heart by causing issues like damaged blood vessels and increased aging of the vascular system,” Page, who was not involved in the study, said in a news release. “People who have used methamphetamine are diagnosed with heart disease about eight years earlier than those who haven’t used it.”
More information
The National Institute on Drug Abuse has more about methamphetamine.
SOURCES: American Heart Association, news release, April 29, 2026; Journal of the American Heart Association, April 29, 2026
