The hard consequences of cocaine addiction

July 4, 2015

The hard consequences of cocaine addiction: No drug takes you down faster or harder than crack

The hard consequences of cocaine addiction are ruining people’s live and the sooner you reach out for help the better

In one of the sessions where doctor Dalal Akoury was impacting health knowledge to some group of cocaine addicts, she mention a very strong statement that has kept many thinking about substance abuse in general. She said that “no drug takes you down faster or harder than crack and that the consequences of cocaine addiction are real and dangerous.” Take a moment and visualize what this statement is loaded with. It simply means that when you are taking this drug, in essence you are reducing your life spun with every injection, smoke or drink you take hence the statement going down faster and harder. Cocaine is a very dangerous and addictive substance and it comes in two forms, the powdered form that is snorted and crack that is smoked. When we say that cocaine is very addictive, this may not make sense to many people, but wait a moment and listen to this illustration about the intensity of this substance. The addictiveness of cocaine can be displayed with the life of a mouse. That is to say, if you give a mouse a hit of cocaine every time it presses a lever, it will do nothing else but press that lever. It won’t stop for a minute to take a sip of water or a bite to eat, and eventually it will die from a cocaine overdose. The only thing that prevents people from overdosing on crack is their bank account. Once people are addicted to crack, they will sell their soul for another hit and that is how addictive this drug can be says doctor Akoury.

In life we often have the liberty to make choices, some of the choices we make can be very costly to our health and getting into drugs is one such choice that is today causing many families serious nightmares. The formation of AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center by doctor Akoury is one of the best choices that any professional can make. Having seen how wrong choices were being made by many people opting into drugs, doctor Akoury made a decision to create a medical center whose main objective is to transform each individual’s life through increasing awareness about health and wellness and by empowering individuals to find their own inner healing power. Dr. Akoury’s practice focuses on personalized medicine through healthy lifestyle choices that deal with primary prevention and underlying causes instead of patching up symptoms. Therefore if for whatever reason you may have made the wrong choice and you want to get back to making the right choice, then this is the place to start from. I am not promising a joyride in the process. Recovering from addiction is a process and not a destination and so obstacles will be there but with determination and commitment, doctor Akoury will help you go through the healing process in the most professional way. All you have to do is to call her on telephone number 843 213 1480 to schedule for your appointment with her today.

The hard consequences of cocaine addiction: The dangers of cocaine use

Now as you consider calling that number, it is important to note that cocaine is a stimulant and very addictive for that matter. Therefore its usage can cause your heart to beat faster and your blood vessels to constrict the consequence of which are high blood pressure, heart attacks, and strokes. These are not just health problems but very serious ones which can cause you your life. This problem is ravaging in our societies like never before and in fact heart attacks in young patients without a history of heart disease are so frequently thanks to cocaine abuse and because of that emergency room doctors are taught to consider it as one of the first diagnoses. And the problem doesn’t end there.

Cocaine is an important cause of cardiac arrest – like I have said cocaine causes ones heart to speed up, and in some cases the speed is so fast that it actually stops. What is especially deadly about cocaine is that there is no correlation between how many times you’ve used cocaine or how much you used, and when you will suffer a cardiac arrest. Some people die after their first use. Other people have used cocaine hundreds of times, and then drop dead on the very next time. Some university athletes who suddenly drop dead are discovered to have died from cocaine induced cardiac arrest. And as with all drugs, the most important consequences of cocaine addiction are psychological, social, and emotional. However with cocaine these happen faster and harder than with other drugs. A word of caution to all cocaine users, if you are a cocaine addict, you don’t have to wonder if you’ve hurt your friends and family because the truth is that you have done that not once but many times, you may not know because of the influence the drug has on you but now that you are sober and you’re asking, the writings is on the wall. Make a mend by scheduling for an appointment with doctor Dalal Akoury today for the commencement of your recovery journey.

The hard consequences of cocaine addiction: Withdrawal symptoms

The withdrawal symptoms of cocaine are emotional – There are no physical withdrawal symptoms from cocaine, which is why people sometimes trick themselves into thinking they aren’t addicted to it. “I’m not physically addicted to cocaine.” But there’s no physical addiction and non-physical addiction all we have is addiction. Remember that all addiction occurs in the brain. Doctor Akoury says that even though there are no physical withdrawal symptoms, cocaine still satisfies the criteria of addiction. People have difficulty controlling how much they use and they continue to use even though it has negative consequences to their life. Nevertheless the known emotional withdrawal symptoms of cocaine may include tiredness, depression, anxiety and moodiness.

Post-acute withdrawal – The post-acute withdrawal symptoms for cocaine are similar to those of other drugs and they include mood swings, variable energy, low enthusiasm, poor concentration and sleep disturbances.

The hard consequences of cocaine addiction: Cross Addiction

Most cocaine addicts struggle with the idea of total abstinence – If you’re addicted to cocaine, you know you never want to use cocaine again. Cocaine has ruined your life, it has cost you a lot of money, but you’re not sure about stopping alcohol. Maybe alcohol has never been a problem. But because of cross addiction, if you want to stop using cocaine you must also stop all addictive drugs including alcohol and marijuana.

Alcohol is a common trigger for cocaine use – You’ll start with just a few drinks a week. Maybe you’ll drink moderately for weeks or even months without using cocaine. But then one week, you’ll have a bad week. Bad things happen. During that week, everything will go wrong. You’ll be stressed out at work. You’ll have an argument at home. And by the end of the week, you’ll really want a drink. But instead of just a few drinks, you’ll want maybe three or four drinks to take the edge off. After the first one or two drinks, your inhibitions will be lower. After two or three drinks, you’ll reach a magic number, and your brain will suddenly say “Bingo. With all these experiences all you need is an experienced professional to help you and that service is available at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center, make that call today.

The hard consequences of cocaine addiction: No drug takes you down faster or harder than crack

The Addictiveness of Cocaine Family of Drugs

May 11, 2015

The Addictiveness of Cocaine Family of Drugs: Cola Plant Being the Source

The Addictiveness of Cocaine Family of Drugs offers the greatest threat of life

If you have been with us on this link for sometimes now, you must be aware that, the families of cocaine drugs are some of the most addictive substance in the world. These drugs are very dangerous both to the patients and even to their loved ones. That danger is not doing the economies of the world any justice and that is why we want to enter into this discussion of the addictiveness of cocaine family of drugs in our families, neighborhoods and the general societies at large. In our previous articles doctor Dalal Akoury took us through the origin of cocaine, and just a brief recoup, she mentioned that cocaine is a white powder refined from the coca plant which grows mainly in South America and the Asian continent.

Experts at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center under the able leadership of doctor Dalal Akoury indicates that users of this drug have a common characteristic on how they administer cocaine into their systems. Under normal circumstances, it is usually spread on a smooth surface such as glass and cut up with a razor blade to form a thin lines or trails which can then be sniffed up through a makeshift straw such as a banknote. Snorting is actually one of the most common forms of consumption although there are some other ways too like injection and smoking. It is easily absorbed through the lining of the nose. However if this method is used repeated (snorting), a lot of damages can be caused on the membranes of the nose which may also perforate the nasal septum which is the barrier separating one side of the nose and the other. These damages can be avoided only if you chose to do the right thing. Like for instance scheduling for an appointment with doctor Akoury will be a step in the right direction for your full recovery.

Cocaine and crack speed up the body in a similar way to amphetamines, but the effect is shorter and more intense – less than an hour for cocaine and as short as several minutes for crack. As with amphetamines, cocaine releases an intense rush of energy, makes a person feel good, mentally sharp, talkative and confident. When blood levels begin to dive, the craving is often overwhelming to take more. And just like with all drugs and life experiences, the greater the high, the worse the fall.

The early euphoric experience disappears in heavy users, who can feel very restless, with nausea, excitability, extreme agitation, anxiety, and paranoia and possible hallucinations. It is important to note that very high doses can rarely cause heart failure, convulsions and death. Regular cocaine users often have interrupted sleep patterns. They feel unable to cope until they’ve had some Charlie, stressed-out and irritable. Life for weekend users can become a process of trying to get through the week until Friday. Regular users may feel that they cannot have a “good time” without the drug. Stopping the drug produces terrible headaches, tiredness, nausea, sleepiness and depression.

The Addictiveness of Cocaine Family of Drugs: Crack

Free basing (smoking) is done by mixing cocaine with other substances and sodium hydroxide. The salt base then dissolves leaving granules of pure cocaine which can be smoked in a pipe. The vapors in the lung hit the brain in eight seconds, producing a massive high which only lasts for ten minutes, after which the desire to have more is experienced and that is why people become very much addicted to these substances. Besides that cocaine and crack can also be used during sex to prolong sex in a man by acting as a local anesthetic on the genitalia.

The other problem with these drugs is that which directly affects the unborn babies commonly known as crack babies. This has been a great concern in most nations like in the US for example; a study conducted by NIDA established that up to 200,000 of substance abuse in pregnancy is crack or cocaine. Doctor Akoury reiterates that the effect on babies can be very fatal. Some of the known risk may include: premature labour, stillbirth, low birth weight, ectopic pregnancy, sudden infant death and small size at birth. Now the fatality of these drugs can affect the babies for life, like for instance such children may have permanent mental damage from the effects of what happened to them while in the womb. It must also be known that cocaine and alcohol can be a very hazardous combination since the human liver combines coca and alcohol metabolites to form new cocktails which are toxic.

The Addictiveness of Cocaine Family of Drugs: Crack related violence

In terms of reputation crack has nothing to be admired since it has all along been associated with extreme violence due to the obvious reasons like for instance, cocaine is highly addictive and the habit is expensive so large amounts of money are needed to keep a user happy and stakes are high for people seeking to control a distribution network area. The drug itself can cause anxiety, fear and paranoia, and when knives or guns are around, murder can easily be the result.

The Addictiveness of Cocaine Family of Drugs: Crack rehabilitation

This is one thing that has been very difficult and challenging. Crack addiction can be very hard in the sense that even attracting users into treatment programs can be a real challenge. Cocaine users are often very different culturally from heroin users and often prefer to keep well apart. Crack clients can be far more aggressive and instantly demanding than heroin users, and many drugs services find it hard to respond. Crack users are not offered substitute medication the equivalent to methadone for heroin users. Many crack users are black and feel uncomfortable in a white dominated support center. Finally, paranoia itself can fuel natural suspicions of authority.

So then, crack and cocaine are real threats even if their use is more limited than some feared it would be. Fashions in drug culture come and go. Expect further surges in crack consumption in particular groups over the next couple of decades with decline in others. Each wave of experimentation leaves a hard core of chronic addicts. They are a small minority of those who have ever used the drug but are a large part of the market.

The Addictiveness of Cocaine Family of Drugs: Cola Plant Being the Source

Cocaine and Crack Abuse are great Threats

May 6, 2015

Cocaine and Crack Abuse are great Threats: The Dangers it brings on your Health

Cocaine and Crack Abuse are great Threats. It can be administered to the body either through injection, snorting or smoking.

The history of cocaine is well known and how it affects the good health of our societies. Cocaine is a very powerful addictive stimulant drug that when allowed to settle in anyone’s life, then devastations and frustrations will follow as the immediate consequences. Whichever way you look at it, cocaine is not good. No single advantage can be attached to this drug. As a matter of fact cocaine and crack abuse are great threats of life. The powdered hydrochloride salt form of cocaine can be snorted or injected as a solution of water. And when we talk of crack cocaine, it means that, this cocaine base has not been neutralized by an acid to transform it into a hydrochloride salt. When that is done, this form of cocaine comes in a rock crystal which can be heated to produce vapors, a product which can be smoked. The term “crack” therefore refers to the crackling sound produced by the rock as it is heated.

Cocaine and Crack Abuse are great Threats: How is Cocaine Abused?

According to the experts at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center, cocaine abuse is in most cases considered in relation to the mode of its administration. There are three main routes that are commonly used and they may include the following:

Snorting – this is the process of inhaling cocaine powder through the nose, where it is absorbed into the bloodstream through the nasal tissues.
Injection – in this case cocaine in mixed with water and the solution is then injected into the body using the needle to release the drug directly into the blood streams.
Smoking – this involves inhaling cocaine vapor or smoke into the lungs, where absorption into the bloodstream is as rapid as by injection.

Irrespective of which method you choose, the dangers remain the same and in all the methods of administration can lead to addiction and other chronic and severe health problems, including increasing the risk of contracting HIV and infectious diseases says doctor Akoury MD and also the founder of AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center.

The intensity and duration of cocaine’s effects, which include increased energy, reduced fatigue, and mental alertness, depend on the route of drug administration.
The faster cocaine is absorbed into the bloodstream and delivered to the brain, the more intense the high.
Injecting or smoking cocaine produces a quicker, stronger high than snorting.
On the other hand, faster absorption usually means shorter duration of action.
The high from snorting cocaine may last 15 to 30 minutes, but the high from smoking may last only 5 to 10 minutes.

In order to sustain the high, a cocaine abuser has to administer the drug again. For this reason, cocaine is sometimes abused in binges taken repeatedly within a relatively short period of time, at increasingly high doses.

Cocaine and Crack Abuse are great Threats: Effects of Cocaine to the Brain

Without missing the words, cocaine is a strong central nervous system stimulant that raises the levels of dopamine. This is a brain chemical which is associated with pleasure and movement, in the brain’s reward circuit. And because dopamine facilitates communication in some brain cell commonly known as neurons, therefore dopamine is released by neurons to respond to signals like the smell or taste of good food and then it is recycled back into the cell that releases it which in return will shut off the signal between neurons.

Cocaine acts by preventing the dopamine from being recycled, causing excessive amounts of dopamine to build up, amplifying the message, and ultimately disrupting normal communication. It is this excess of dopamine that is responsible for cocaine’s euphoric effects. With repeated use, cocaine can cause long-term changes in the brain’s reward system and in other brain systems as well, which may eventually lead to addiction. Further to this with repeated use, tolerance to the cocaine high also often develops. This has been confirmed from various reports that many cocaine addicts often seek to get high by consuming more but they fail to achieve as much pleasure as they use to from their first exposure. This means that some users choose to increase their dose in an attempt to intensify and prolong the euphoria, but this can also increase the risk of adverse psychological or physiological effects.

Cocaine and Crack Abuse are great Threats: The Adverse Effects of Cocaine on Health

There is no doubt that cocaine abuse impact on health negatively, like for instance:

Cocaine compresses blood vessels
Dilates eye pupils
Increases body temperature
Heart rate
Blood pressure

It can also cause headaches and gastrointestinal complications such as abdominal pain and nausea. And because cocaine tends to decrease appetite, chronic users can become malnourished as well.

Cocaine and Crack Abuse are great Threats: Effects based on the mode of administration

Like I had indicated before that, cocaine is administered in to the body primarily in there different ways. These methods of taking cocaine can produce different adverse effects. like for instance:

Regularly snorting cocaine, for example, can lead to loss of the sense of smell, nosebleeds, problems with swallowing, hoarseness, and a chronically runny nose.
Ingesting cocaine can cause severe bowel gangrene as a result of reduced blood flow.
Injecting cocaine can bring about severe allergic reactions and increased risk for contracting HIV and other blood-borne diseases.
Binge patterns of use may lead to irritability, restlessness, anxiety, and paranoia.
Cocaine abusers can suffer a temporary state of full-blown paranoid psychosis, in which they lose touch with reality and experience auditory hallucinations.

Doctor Akoury emphases that it doesn’t matter how it is administered or how frequently cocaine is used, in all these users can experience acute cardiovascular or cere-brovascular emergencies, such as a heart attack or stroke, which may cause sudden death. Remember that most cocaine-related deaths are often as result of cardiac arrest or seizure followed by respiratory arrest. All these can be brought to manageable levels if we all pool together and begin doing the right things. You may not know conclusively what to do and that is why doctor Akoury founder this health facility to help you stay healthy. You can schedule for an appointment with doctor Dalal Akoury and together with her team of experts they will professionally offer lasting solution to your individual conditions.

Cocaine and Crack Abuse are great Threats: The Dangers it brings on your Health

The best treatment solutions for cocaine abusers

May 5, 2015

The best treatment solutions for cocaine abusers: Taking Cocaine head on

The best treatment solutions for cocaine abusers may include group therapy and counseling

Of the societal challenges we are faced with drug addiction is becoming one of the most disturbing one. When one member of the family is struggling with substance abuse, the whole family is concern and a lot of emotional and even physical frustrations are felt. What is worrying is the rate at which the population abusing drugs is increasing. There are several factors that can explain this but the sing denominator is that the increase is getting out of hand if something is not done to correct this. Looking at the impact of substance abuse in our neighborhoods doctor Dalal Akoury made a decision to form a health center whose objective would be to offer solutions to people abusing drugs. At this facility (AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center) doctor Akoury together with her team of experts are offering the best treatment solutions for cocaine abusers among other drug related cases. Therefore if you are struggling with drugs of whichever kind, then you can schedule for an appointment with doctor Akoury today for treatment. In the meantime, let us consider some of the treatment options we have.

Information available indicates that just a few years ago in 2007, cocaine alone accounted for about 13 percent of all admissions to drug abuse treatment programs. The report also revealed that majority of these people sought treatment were mainly cocaine addicts and were also struggling with other drugs other than cocaine meaning that they were poly drug abusers. Doctor explains that the prevalence of cocaine has necessitated renewed efforts to develop treatment programs for cocaine across the globe. And just like with other drugs, cocaine is one of the complex diseases that involve biological changes in the brain as well as myriad social, familial, and other environmental problems. Therefore, a good treatment of cocaine addiction must be comprehensive, and strategies need to assess the neurobiological, social, and medical aspects of the patient’s drug abuse. Moreover, patients who have a variety of addictions often have other co-occurring mental disorders that require additional behavioral or pharmacological interventions.

The best treatment solutions for cocaine abusers: Cocaine Detoxification

For us to have better modes of treatment of cocaine addiction, we must first appreciate and acknowledge that we have a problem that needs to be fixed. No treatment can be successful if the patient is still in denial. It is a fact that patients addicted to cocaine or even other drugs will have a lot of toxic deposit in their systems. These toxics are the biggest problem that detoxification will be addressing in this article. Therefore medical detoxification is a process that systematically and safely withdraws people from addictive drugs. This is usually done under the care of trained physician. Drinking alcohol or using drugs can cause physical dependence over time and stopping them can result in withdrawal symptoms in people with this dependence. The detoxification process is designed to treat the immediate bodily effects of stopping drug use and to remove toxins left in the body as a result of the chemicals found in drugs or alcohol.

Even though as things stand now there is no proven pharmacologic therapy for cocaine addiction, so many kinds of medications have been used in the past in the detoxification of cocaine. It is however worth noting that withdrawal from chronic cocaine use may also result in anxiety, depression and intense cravings for the drugs you are trying to eliminate from your systems. Several types of medications address these issues in different ways. Like for instance:

Antidepressant drugs such as desipramine or a combination of phentermine and fenfluramine have been used to reduce cocaine withdrawal symptoms such as anxiety and depression.
Benzodiazepines, tranquilizers such as Diazepam, have been used to reverse anxiety induced by cocaine withdrawal.
Amantadine, a drug used to treat Parkinson’s disease, may be an effective treatment for cocaine-dependent patients with severe cocaine withdrawal symptoms and may reduce cocaine craving.
Bromocriptine, a drug that works on the brain’s dopamine system, has been used to decrease the craving for cocaine during detoxification and to reduce mood disturbance.
Propanolol, a beta-blocker drug used to treat high blood pressure, may be useful for severe cocaine withdrawal symptoms, as it slows down the effects of adrenaline, thereby calming the body’s “fight or flight” response to stressful situations.
This type of drug has been used to treat general anxiety and anxiety associated with alcohol withdrawal.
Propranolol’s lessening of symptoms such as palpitations and sweating has helped reduce cocaine craving. Its use, however, is not risk free in patients who have taken cocaine and can be associated with decreased blood flow to the heart and other changes that predispose patients to arrhythmia and a severe increase in blood pressure that can lead to a stroke.
Delayed toxic effects are possible. Any use of beta-blockers in this setting requires careful monitoring and caution.

The best treatment solutions for cocaine abusers: Behavioral Interventions

Many behavioral treatments for cocaine addiction have proven to be effective in both residential and outpatient settings. Indeed, behavioral therapies are often the only available and effective treatments for many drug problems, including stimulant addictions. However, the integration of behavioral and pharmacological treatments may ultimately prove to be the most effective approach. Presently, there are no proven medications to treat cocaine addiction. Nonetheless a lot of efforts are being made by NIDA to identify and test new medications.

One form of behavioral therapy that is showing positive results in cocaine-addicted populations is contingency management, or motivational incentives (MI). MI may be particularly useful for helping patients achieve initial abstinence from cocaine and for helping patients stay in treatment. Programs use a voucher or prize-based system that rewards patients who abstain from cocaine and other drug use. On the basis of drug-free urine tests, the patients earn points, or chips, which can be exchanged for items that encourage healthy living, such as a gym membership, movie tickets, or dinner at a local restaurant. This approach has recently been shown to be practical and effective in community treatment programs.

Finally it is important that patients receive only services that match all of their treatment needs. For example, if a patient is unemployed, it may be helpful to provide vocational rehabilitation or career counseling along with addiction treatment. If a patient has marital problems, it may be important to offer couples counseling. These and more are some of the services we offer at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center. When you schedule for that appointment with doctor Akoury, up on carrying out an evaluation on you, she will put you on a tailored treatment program that will directly meet your addiction needs.

The best treatment solutions for cocaine abusers: Taking Cocaine head on

Cocaine Abuse is an endless Phenomenon

March 13, 2015

Cocaine Abuse is an endless Phenomenon: Important Facts about Cocaine

Cocaine Abuse is an endless Phenomenon and it use is causing more harm to life. Snorting cocaine is one of the most commonly used method

It is true that cocaine is currently one of the most abused major stimulant drugs not just in America but across the globe. Surprisingly it has recently become the drug most frequently involved in emergency department visits. Cocaine may not be newly abused drug but all the same it is often considered the “caviar” of recreational drugs. Nonetheless this difference is reflected in its descriptions. The cocaine abuse is an endless phenomenon and has been given called the champagne of drugs, gold dust, Cadillac of drugs, status stimulant, yuppie drug, and others. Besides those nouns it also has other street names which are used depending on its appearance or method of use. Such street names may include flake, snow, toot, blow, nose candy, her, she, lady flake, liquid lady “a mixture of cocaine and alcohol”, speedball [cocaine and heroin], crack, rock. In all these names cocaine is commonly known as coke. The name is actually not very important for us says doctor Akoury. Our interest is not in the name because the name alone doesn’t affect life. Whether you nick name it what the impact on its usage is the same and that is our point of concern. That is why we have the choice topic of cocaine abuse is an endless phenomenon.

Even though this is a global problem, we want to zero it down to US for the purpose of this article. The available statistics regarding the use of cocaine in the US is worrying. It is estimated that by 2012 children as young as 12 years representing the younger lot and moving to adulthood had used cocaine. That translates to about 1.7 minion people. And in that same time it is estimated that up to 1.1 million people had suffered from cocaine abuse or dependence. The other important facts about cocaine use include the drop in cocaine use is that men tend to be the biggest users of the drug more often than women. And in fact adults of between 18-25 years of age are by far the highest rate of cocaine use.

Even as we venture into this discussion of cocaine abuse is an endless phenomenon, myths about the drug will always be there and one common myth is that cocaine is not addictive because it lacks the physical withdrawal symptoms seen in alcohol or heroin addiction. In paper that may sound factual, however cocaine does have influential psychological addictive properties. This has been demonstrated by more than one user in the past and in quotes, “if it is not addictive, then why can’t I stop?” That is actually the common statement given by all users of cocaine further confirming the addictive power in this drug. Like for instance, currently the tendency in drug abuse in the United States is currently numerous or poly-drug abuse, and cocaine is not immune either. It is often used with alcohol, sedatives such as diazepam (Valium), lorazepam (Ativan), or heroin, as an upper/downer combination. Normally in instances like this the other drug is used to moderate the side effects of the primary addiction.

If I may ask why do we say that cocaine abuse an endless phenomenon? The answer to that is in the pattern in which this drug is being used. It appears that at every stage of life there is a group of users who graduate to the next stages and the vicious cycle continues. For example, while college students tend to abuse alcohol more than teens the same age who do not go on to college, non-college students seem to abuse cocaine, as well as marijuana and tobacco, more than their peers who attend college. A common poly-drug abuse problem, seen especially in adolescents, is cocaine, alcohol, and marijuana. If nothing is done then this generation of cocaine, alcohol and marijuana will graduate to collage with this baggage on their shoulders then to adulthood and finally old age. In dealing with this problem, it is important that we appreciate that drug-use disorders spare no one and it cuts across all societies. It has no respect for gender, age, profession, race, religion, or physical attributes.

Cocaine Abuse an endless Phenomenon: History

The ultimate objective of this article is to understand the effects of cocaine abuse and dopamine deficiency syndrome. But before we get there, let us get an overview of the history of this drug. Cocaine is a naturally occurring alkaloid usually extracted from the leaves of the coca shrub, which was originally found in the Andes Mountains of Peru and Bolivia. With its appreciation as a lucrative cash crop, it is now cultivated in Colombia, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, the West Indies, Ecuador, and Java. Coca leaves were mixed with lime and chewed by the Peruvian Indians as early as the sixth century to allay the effects of cold, hunger, and fatigue. It is still used as such as a gift from the Sun God. In this sense, coca is an important sociocultural tradition for Peruvian and Bolivian Indians and should not be confused with the cocaine snorting, smoking, and injecting of the Western abuser. Coca was later introduced to Europe, where the alkaloid cocaine was isolated. Its medicinal effects on depression, alcohol and morphine addiction, fatigue, and as a local anesthetic were discovered. However, these discoveries were not without cost to those who experimented with it. The result was addiction and dependency on the drug.

Cocaine Abuse is an endless Phenomenon: A brain tonic

Interestingly around 1886, an elixir containing cocaine from the coca leaf and caffeine from the African kola nut was introduced in Atlanta. It was traded as a brain tonic recommended as a medication for headaches, alcoholism, morphine addiction, abdominal pain, and menstrual cramps. This elixir, appropriately named Coca-Cola, rapidly became one of the most popular elixirs in the country. However because of the adverse effects of cocaine, appreciated even then, the Coca-Cola Company decided to use a de cocainized coca leaves in 1903. At this time cocaine was under strict control in the United States in 1914 with the Harrison Narcotic Act. It was finally listed as a narcotic and dangerous. Though its use is dangerous, it is not a narcotic, but its use is subject to the same penalties as those for opium, morphine, and heroin.

Cocaine Abuse is an endless Phenomenon: Limited medical use

Cocaine has little medical use. Because of its anesthetic effect, it was used for eye surgery. But because of its profound ability to vasoconstriction blood vessels (that is, make veins and arteries narrow, thus stopping bleeding), it can lead to scarring and delayed healing of the cornea. Medications that are chemically similar to cocaine are available for use in the nose for surgery, stopping nosebleeds, and as a local anesthetic for cuts in children. We are going to continue with is discussion looking at how and why people abuse cocaine both in the past and present but in the meantime if you have any concern about cocaine abuse, you can schedule for an appointment with the experts at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center and doctor Dalal Akoury will be of great help to you.

Cocaine Abuse is an endless Phenomenon: Important Facts about Cocaine

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