(RNN) – While many people wear smart devices like the Apple Watch or Fitbit to track their health, others are using the technology for activities that are potentially harmful to their health.
Users who indulge in cocaine binges, where cocaine is used at high doses repeatedly, are now reportedly using the wearable heart monitors to ensure their heart doesn’t give out.
CNBC cites a YouTube channel called DrugsLab that features three hosts who perform on-camera tests of drugs suggested by commentators, while their heart rate and body temperature are tracked on a board behind them. The idea, they say, is to promote drug education for millennials. The channel has nearly 700,000 subscribers.
Cocaine can cause an extreme increase in a user's heart rate by producing a rush of adrenaline.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, cocaine contributes to more than 5,000 deaths per year from overdoses.
Health professionals say that cocaine overdose deaths can be tied to heart attacks, strokes, inflammation of the heart muscle, and make it hard for the heart to pump blood.
None of these conditions can be prevented by wearing heart rate monitors during drug use, according to experts.
Doctors say drug users should not rely on consumer smart devices to prevent overdoes since they don’t deliver the level of accuracy of traditional chest-strap monitors.
"Taking drugs is always a risk, whether you're monitoring a tracker or not," cardiologist, Ethan Weiss told CNBC. "It's possible this is leading people to do more cocaine."
Copyright 2018 Raycom News Network. All rights reserved
