23-year-old develops rare condition called ‘dropped head syndrome’
Addiction can cause a variety of issues in people who suffer from it. The impact addiction has on your body depends on a lot of things, mainly on what your substance of choice is.
This 23-year-old man developed a rare condition.
Keep reading to know more.
A young man from Iran was seen having developed an alarming condition. His neck could no longer support his head. According to the medics, the man was an amphetamine user. The substance, also known as speed, would cause his chin to fall to his chest for prolonged periods of time which triggered a ‘fixed kyphotic neck position.’
He was left with an extreme bend in his neck after he regularly took a myriad of drugs, which included, among others, heroin, opium, and speed.
Doctors were trying to figure out whether the young man’s condition was due to his drug abuse.
They found out that before he began to abuse drugs, there were no indicators that he would develop such a condition.
Dr Majid Rezvan, co-author of the case study, said, “We discovered that drug abuse contributed to the uncommon development of severe complicated cervical kyphosis [excessive rounding of the upper back].’
“The drug does not have a direct effect on musculoskeletal changes,” he observed.
“Instead there is an indirect effect: when the patient uses the drug, they remain in a certain position for a long time, and over months this results in musculoskeletal changes that led to kyphoscoliosis,” he explained.
Dropped head syndrome is also known as floppy head syndrome and is sometimes seen in people with weak neck muscles.
And while it is usually associated with neuromuscular disorders like motor neuron disease, it can also be triggered by abuse of drugs.
The report showed that the man in Iran was struggling with symptoms which included chronic neck pain and paresthesia for the last 15 months.
He also felt tingling, numbness and pins and needles in his arms, and nothing seemed to be helping him.
The CT scan showed his spine was severely deformed. According to doctors, things seemed to improve when he was under general anaesthesia.
However, surgery was needed to take care of the deformed bone. He was able to walk by himself a day after the surgery with the help of a hard collar.
The man was expected to go to rehab to get in control of his a.d.d.i.c.t.i.o.n.