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Health Conditions Among Aging Narcotics Addicts: Medical Examination Results

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Abstract

The study examined health conditions among an aging cohort of male narcotics addicts. This prospective cohort study (1964–1998) included interviews and medical testing for 108 surviving subjects who had been admitted to the California Civil Addict Program during the years 1962 through 1964. Medical testing results were: 51.9% had high blood pressure, 22.4% showed hyperlipidemia, 13.3% had elevated levels of blood glucose, 33.6% had abnormal pulmonary function, half of the sample had abnormal liver function, and 94.2% tested positive for hepatitis C, 85.6% for hepatitis B, 3.8% for syphilis, and 27.3% for TB. The study empirically demonstrated poor health conditions and high morbidity among surviving narcotics addicts.

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  1. University of California, Los Angeles, California

    Yih-Ing Hser, Lillian Gelberg, Valerie Hoffman, Christine E. Grella, William McCarthy & M. Douglas Anglin

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  1. Yih-Ing Hser
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  2. Lillian Gelberg
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Hser, YI., Gelberg, L., Hoffman, V. et al. Health Conditions Among Aging Narcotics Addicts: Medical Examination Results. J Behav Med 27, 607–622 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-004-0005-x

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