As the title says. As someone with ADHD I’m interested in understanding why stimulant drugs are bad for your heart but naturally increasing your heart rate is considered to be good for your overall health?
In: Biology
Because one activity contributes to the survival of the tribe (strenuous exercise) while the other does not (drugs).
Those who contribute to the survival of the tribe are rewarded through increased strength, conditioning, and overall health.
Those who detract from the survival of the tribe (like doing drugs) are punished through disease and death.
That being said, too much strenuous exercise will kill you and certain drugs are medications which help people. But still, survival of the fittest tribe is where it’s at.
I mean drugs don’t actually help you to lose fat and gain muscle and requires no effort at all… just blasts your heart rate
You a car guy at all?
Imagine your heart is like a car engine. When you’re exercising, it’s like you’re taking your car for a regular drive. The engine gets warmed up, runs smoothly, and even benefits from the exercise because it’s built to handle this kind of activity.
Now, think of stimulant drugs as a nitrous boost for your car. They make the engine run super fast, but it’s not a natural or safe way to increase speed. Instead of a smooth drive, it puts a lot of extra strain on the engine, which can lead to problems over time.
So, regular exercise is like a healthy, regular drive that keeps your heart in shape, while stimulant drugs are like forcing your heart to go too fast, too often, which isn’t good for it in the long run.
EDIT: u/PofanWasTaken has the perfect ELI5 replied to this comment.
When you exercise, your heart rate is elevated for the period of the exercise, usually just a short period of time. Short bursts of an elevated heart rate make your heart more efficient while it rests, so that it is ready for next time.
However, when you take drugs that elevate your heart rate, it remains elevated for a much longer period of time. Your body isn’t given enough of a rest period to become stronger, and the duration is enough to put your heart under strain which causes problems.
Exercise can cause heart problems, too! Long vigorous exercise can be harmful to your body, and it’s not uncommon for people running marathons and such to have heart complications
Your body works to achieve homeostasis – a balance in all of your bodily systems when they all work together, whether you’re at rest or when you’re exercising.
When you have a drug that selectively targets the heart and raises your heart rate, that balance is disturbed – and this is not okay. Having your heart racing at rest is generally not a comfortable feeling. The heart is pumping more blood, but your other part of your body is not ready to handle the increased rate of blood flowing.
Your vascular system is like the pipes in your house, if you open all the taps and push a bunch of pressure in it’ll flush the system and be a good thing, if you push the same pressure in with all the taps closed it’s going to damage your pipes.
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