Caution: Avoid recreational drugs for healthy life – Physician Specialist
● Dr Ken Amaniampong
Though Christmas is characterised by merrymaking, revellers, individuals and social groups have been warned against recreational drugs which have negative effect on human health.
Dr. Ken Amaniampong, a Family Physician Specialist with Jubail Specialist Hospital at Sakumono has admonished the public to refrain from drugs because their effect was very dangerous and could lead to various health complications including lung cancer.
According to the Specialist, “marijuana, an example of a recreational drug is causing more harm to the youth who are abusing it for fun or lifestyle”.
He added that, smoking of any form including shisha and e-cigarettes was detrimental to one’s health irrespective of the age because it only led to diseases that could place a toll on an individual’s life, even at a treatment stage.
Dr. Amaniampong said “Smoking only increases one’s risk of heart disease, stroke, and different types of cancer among others, and affects the fertility of the smoker and also delays conception”.
He highlighted that recreational drugs were ranged from analgesics, depressants, stimulants to hallucinogens.
Analgesics, he said, were narcotics including heroin, morphine, codeine which affected the central nervous system of the human.
Depressants, according to the Physician Specialist were drugs such as alcohol, nicotine, tranquillisers among others which slowed down the function of the central nervous system.
Hallucinogens, he stated, affected an individual’s senses and changed the way “one sees, hears, tastes, smells and feels things” and enumerated some of the drugs that caused these awful changes of one’s senses, as mescaline, ketamine, PCP among others.
Dr. Amaniampong admonished Ghanaians to have a regular check up to identify any shortcomings in their health and wellness at an early stage for treatment.
He cautioned the youth to avoid irrelevant lifestyles that would only put them at risk of contracting complications that would require huge amount of money for treatment.
“Whatever bad lifestyle you practise in the present, has an effect on your future, so eschew all forms of lifestyle that pose danger to your health”, he said.
He indicated that one could develop high blood pressure, rapid or irregular heartbeat kidney or liver damage, respiratory difficulties and cardiovascular diseases from abusing recreational drugs.
By Alfred Nii Arday Ankrah
