Correcting the brain damage from drug abuse: The generator of pathological activity

Correcting the brain damage from drug abuse must be every ones priority if we have to defeat addiction and its consequences

Did you know that drugs are the major cause of the death of the brain cells? The brain is one of the most sensitive organs in any human body where everything starts and ends. Death is always registered the moment ones brain stops functioning. Therefore we all have a duty to keep the good health we have by correcting the brain damages from drug abuse and doctor Dalal Akoury is going to take us through the discussion to unlock some of the sensitive things that we must do to keep the proper functionality of the brain. According to the experts at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center under the able leadership of doctor Dalal Akoury, this could be the worst damage they cause to the brain. And remember that the degree of the brain damage from drug abuse is always defined by the prognosis of recovery. Sometimes unfavorable changes in the brain of a drug addict are so much overwhelming that they are not even able to realize the problem let alone the need for treatment. And even if they are, the deformed psyche, expressed in loss of willpower, doesn’t allow them to complete the treatment and refrain from using the drugs. Nonetheless such situations often come to the extreme cases. Besides that under normal circumstances addiction often creates a center of addiction in the brain, or so-called a generator of pathological activity for drug craving.

To illustrate this, let us take an example of a condition we are all familiar with that of epilepsy. This disease is characterized by periodically recurrent seizure syndrome and when a small portion of the brain cells (it can be quite small in size), figuratively speaking, “going crazy”. From time to time they reach the level of excitation which covers the whole brain. As a result, a person loses consciousness, falls down, the total muscle spasms make him convulse. When he comes regains his consciousness, he doesn’t remember what happened to him. Medically these “haywire” cells are called the generator of pathological activity. Now the connection is that about the same generator is formed in case of a drug addiction. However in this case the generator is that of attraction to drugs, self-excitation of which with different periodicity may also cover the entire brain and cause an uncontrollable, overpowering desire to take drugs thereafter. The activity of the generator leads to a constant, obsessive thoughts about drugs. Without treatment, this generator can persist for years, even if the person does not use the drugs during that time. Along with the formation of the generator of attraction to drugs, there is another type of brain damage from drug abuse, to the nervous system of a drug addict.

Another reason why correcting the brain damage from drug abuse is necessary is because the regular drug poisoning leads to severe changes in metabolism in the cells of the nervous system and especially in brain cells. These cells contain neurotransmitters which are the active substances whose presence in the inter-neuron synapses provides the transmission of electrical impulses to effectuate the functions of all kinds of nervous activities, including the higher nervous activity of a man’s mind, emotions, feelings, willpower, and so on. Doctor Akoury reiterates that the constant presence of the outer psycho active chemical substances badly affects the processes of neuro-transmission in the brain.  And remember that the altered brain reactivity will reflects in the changes of well-being and behavior pattern of an addict. When this happens he becomes lethargic, listless, emotionally limited. Gradually he will begin to lose interest in life, his cognitive abilities dwindle. Against this background, frequent outbreaks of anger and irritability become regular.

It’s fair to say, that shortly after the “fix”, the deficit of neurotransmitters in an addict’s brain temporarily shifts back to “normal”, and the victim feels better for a while. However, with each subsequent dose of narcotic, the further infringements in neuro transmitter systems of the brain ultimately become more and more profound.

Correcting the brain damage from drug abuse: Drug withdrawal

During the “withdrawal” the most unpleasant sensations are connected with an abrupt plummet of content of neurotransmitters in the brain. For instance, the dopamine content due to severe lack of transmitters can’t be utilized in time and may exceed the normal level few times. The excessive amount of dopamine is a real poison to the brain.

Drug withdrawal (especially opiate withdrawal) physically and mentally is a very disruptive condition. It may last from few days to a few weeks. You can get more information about opiate (Heroin, Methadone) withdrawal by scheduling for an appointment with doctor Dalal Akoury today and she will be more than willing to help you find answers to all your questions today.

It is further important to note that during withdrawal some time will lapse and within a few days the level of neurotransmitters will gradually returns to normal even though this may not be completely done, but all the same the symptoms of drug withdrawal subsides. Besides that another danger will come in handy waiting for the patient. This is commonly known as “dry withdrawal”.  After some time, when seemingly all is over, sometimes without any reason, but mostly after the stress, the balance of neurotransmitters breaks down again. At this point the patient starts re-experiencing some mental discomfort, nervousness, sleep disorders, hot-and-cold flashes and aggravated attraction to drugs.

Drug addiction, like many other chronic diseases, is characterized by fluctuating course, with alternate “ups and downs”. Most of the failures happen exactly on the peaks of these “ups”. That is why all drugs have the toxic effects and damages the body’s cells. This damage causes some element of pain in an individual and to fight this pain the victim will have to take more drugs further causing addiction to that substance and the situation to becomes a vicious circle: that is to say, the higher dose of drugs the more pain they cause, the more pain the more need to take the higher dose. As a result, the euphoric effect of the drugs, which was so attractive at the beginning, quickly disappears and leaves an addict to continue taking the drug just to avoid the pain and let him somehow to function “normally”.

Finally from the discussion we have seen that drug addiction is a very complex disease, which is fixed in many levels of the organism. Simple and quick methods, such as coding or isolated psychotherapy are absolutely inactive. To this doctor Akoury says that professionally drug addiction requires a serious multi-stage treatment at all levels and that will be very helpful in correcting the brain damage from drug abuse effectively.

Correcting the brain damage from drug abuse: The generator of pathological activity