By Dennis Thompson
HealthDay Reporter
WEDNESDAY, Nov. 9, 2022 (HealthDay News) — The U.S. opioid epidemic has been heartbreaking — literally.
Young adults’ risk of dying from a devastating infection of the heart has doubled to tripled in the United States during the past two decades, a new study reports.
Researchers ascribe the increase in fatal heart infections to the growing number of people between 15 and 44 who are injecting opioid drugs.
“We found that people who inject drugs comprise a bigger percentage of the deaths from infective endocarditis, compared to 20 years ago,” said senior researcher Dr. Polydoros Kampaktsis, an assistant professor with…
