Cardiovascular complications and related risk factors underlying opium consumption

Opium is considered as the second most abused addictive compound in worldwide. It seems that one of the causes for common consumption of opium in many countries is a traditional belief, even among medical personnel, through which opium might have advantageous influences on cardiovascular events and be beneficial in controlling hypertension, dyslipidemia, and diabetes. According to several investigations, it is thought that opium not only has no beneficial effects on cardiovascular events, but it might have deleterious influences on these settings. As a result, people need to be trained with regard to the adverse effects of opium on cardiovascular events. In this review, we try to go through the understanding of the effects of opium cardiovascular disorders and related complications such as blood pressure, blood sugar, lipid circumstances, and finally atherosclerosis.