Addiction: A Neuroplasticity Disease

July 22, 2015

Addiction: A Neuroplasticity Disease

Had an accident or stroke? Developed amnesia? Lost consciousness for some reason? Well maybe not you. You may be wondering however how a friend or neighbor is recovering from such incidences of short or long term memory losses. Well thanks to technology now we know the brain has a way to self-regenerate in its functions through a process called neuroplasticity.

Neuroplasticity and Addiction Defined

Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to adjust to new environments or needs by developing new nerve cells throughout the body. it is the brain’s way of recovery. neuroplasticity allows the cells to compensate for any injuries or diseases in the nerve system. It also allows the neurons reorganize themselves to perform new functions of the brain depending on changes in their working environment.

One of the most common mechanisms in neuroplasticity is axonal sprouting. This is the process whereby active axons develop new nerve endings to connect with those their links were severed. Inversely, the damaged one can also grow new nerve endings to reconnect to the active neurons. Neuroplasticity is a term derived from the words; “neuron” and “plasticity”. A neuron is a nerve cell of the brain. Plasticity on the other hand means ability to remold. The process is at times referred to as brain malleability. Other times it is simply called brain plasticity.

Addiction on the other hand is an intricate condition of the brain, usually categorized as a disease that involves reward and motivation cerebral systems structurally and chemically altered. It is a mental condition characterized by a compulsive urge to indulge in rewarding stimuli despite possible dire consequences. Addiction is both reinforcing and rewarding. It manifests itself in the form of repetitive, intrinsic behavior including; gambling, food, exercises, shopping and substance abuse.

neuroplasticity

Influence of Neuroplasticity on Addiction

At one time Aristotle said: “We are what we repeatedly do.” Even though the Greek coined the phrase in the context to advice his readers of making a habit of excellence, the great philosopher had his brain develop a pathway around his successes over time. See, that is what the brain does. It creates a path of neurons to support our habits. A weight lifter for instance develops stronger muscles as a result of repetitive action. Similarly the brain may develop a path around addiction.

Once such pathways are created, addiction takes control of the brain. Eventually the addiction becomes the only thing that matters to the addict. Once the addiction hijacks the brain’s centers of pleasure it becomes the only thing that brings the addict a sense of joy or happiness. Soon his/her brain recognizes more of the addiction and less of other socio economic aspects of life including: friends, relatives, family, responsibilities, and work among other normal forms of social interactions and activities.

Neuroplasticity on Addiction Treatment

For a long time detoxification has been used as a treatment mechanism against addiction. This is the removal of the substance of abuse from the body. Victims however fell back on to substance abuse shortly afterwards. The billion dollar question then was how this still happened sometimes way after the victim’s blood had been cleaned of the same. This was one very interesting aspect of scientific state of quandary.

It is however through neuroplasticity scientists discovered treatment of an addiction needed more than mere detoxification. The brain actually needed to be retrained back to its normal functions. It required an intensive psychotherapy among other medical interventions to remold the recovery process. Also, it required an intense psychotherapy to reconfigure the brain’s recognition of what initially seemed normal and of the person as a whole especially in terms of behavior change. The nerve cells needed to rebuild a connection along initial, rather former normal pathways.

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Neuroplasticity and Drug Abstinence

The process, neuroplasticity however does not take away the addictive neuron pathways like probably in the case of severe brain damage usually by accidents. It only retrains the brain to develop new ones along the old clean pathways. It is therefore often advisable to abstain from drugs completely during recovery. This is so as to avoid reinforcing the addictive path.

It is the same case each time you reread your favorite novel. You might have read it last twenty years ago. And you could have forgotten a few characters already. However if you picked that same book today you would remember a lot more, the story would begin to unfold in your sub conscience mind even without rereading the whole story yet again. You would remember the chapters more clearly, vividly the characters, deeply their roles and or attributes without going into it a whole other time.

Relationship between neuroplasticity and addiction is not a simple support of addictive habit and recovery alone. It is an inter-disciplinary connection of varied other fields; computer technology, anthropology, and psychology among others. Want to learn more on this? This year’s August integrative addiction medicine conferences could just be the answer you are looking for. Click on: http://www.integrativeaddiction2015.com and sign up for the upcoming event where you will have a chance to meet various medical experts, and listen to speakers on the neuroplasticity and integrative addiction recovery.

Addiction: A Neuroplasticity Disease

Histamine, Metabolism, Neuro-excitatory and Neurotransmitters

February 10, 2015

Role of Histamine, Metabolism, Neuro-excitatory and Neurotransmitters for Addiction

Histamine refers to transmitter that is endogenous in nature and one that is involved in gastric secretions, allergic manifestations and vigilance regulation. It is found in tissues of all animals especially mamma also with high concentrations in the skin, liver and lungs. In the tissues, the transmitter histamine occurs in mast cells which are simply a group of cells whose cytoplasm has high concentrations of basophilic granulations.

In the mast cells histamine exists bonded to acidic compounds like heparin. In most cells with histamine, its production is slow and when it sis depleted t may take several weeks to go back to normal levels. The brain also contains histamine in certain level. Histamine occurs in the brain region in the hypothalamus based o circadian rhythm which occurs in the brain. Its concentration in the plasma does not exceed 1 microgram per liter but this concentration is high in patients suffering from asthma.

neurotransmitters

In the blood the level of histamine ranges from 10 to 100 micrograms in a liter and is primarily concentrated in the basophils. This concentration as studies show rises especially in patients suffering from medical conditions like gastrodudenal ulcers and chronic myelogenous leukemia. Histamine depreciates some times in the body. This means that more has to be produced to replace the one that is lost. This replacement is often slow and can take several weeks. However, histamine renewal in the nervous system and the gastric cells is at faster rate because it is released continuously.

Histamine and Metabolism

Naturally the distribution of histamine in the body is not usually uniform. It however, occurs in in higher concentrations in the mucosa of the gastric system. Its metabolism is dependent on enzymes such as diamine oxidase, histamine N-methyltransferase and histidine decarboxylase. These enzymes seem to be dominant in the stomach region. Studies have been carried out to determine exactly the concentration of histamine in the gastric system. For years this has been a subject of controversial debate and it was only recently that a solution was found. Studies show that the inactivation process of histamine by histamine methyltrasferase takes place in the gastric mucosa that has a significant activity of enzymes.

However it is worthwhile to note that the intestines, liver and spleen have much higher activities which points towards little specification of catabolism of histamine in the gastric mucosa. There have also been debates concerning the activity of diamine oxidase which for years was thought not to exist in the corpus mucosa. Recent studies however, show that moderate enzyme activities of this enzyme is present in some species among them man. In this case then, the metabolism of histamine n the gastric mucosa does not mean its existence in mammalian tissues. Activities of these enzymes could also act as an indication that it has significant physiological functions in the body.

The formation and inactivation of histamine has been shown to be regulated through enzyme activities by during the process of secreting acid. Histamine N-methyltrasferase and histidine decarboxylase are enhanced by gastrin activities and not necessarily influenced by vagal stimulation.

Neuro excitatory and Neurotransmitters for Addiction

Studies show that rugs especially alcohol affect to a great extent the brain as well as some physical processes of the body. There are several reasons that make a person an alcohol addict. These reasons may range from depression, stress, impulse of just mere pleasure. Once a person becomes alcohol dependent, a pattern has already been established and this affects the neural system of the person.

Histamine

The Neurotransmitter Process

In order to fully understand the neurological effects of alcohol addiction in the brain, there is need to understand how the brain transmitters work. The brain communicates through neurons that send messages form ne cells of the brain to an0ther. Transmission of nerve signals takes place from one brain region to another. Once a neuron has been activated, an electrical signal is produced which travels all through the membrane that surrounds the body and axon of the neuron. The signal reaches the end of the neuron and this triggers neurotransmitters to be released from the brain cells. The neurotransmitters then travel from one neuron to another. On reaching the other neuron, the molecules in the transmitter bind with receptors in the neuron and this triggers new electric signal to be produced. Production of new signals depends on the type of neurotransmitter that is involved in the process.

Most neurotransmitters exhibit inhibitory and excitatory effects. This is dependent on the region of the brain and the receptors present in that region. Neurotransmitters with excitatory effects include among others glutamate, dopamine and serotonin while those with inhibitory effects include gamma-aminobutyric acid most commonly referred to as GABA. When one takes alcohol it tends to reinforce the transmitter system. This affects many neural transmitter processes which trigger some long term effects like withdrawal, tolerance, dependence, sensitization and finally addiction.

This information can be found for free at www.awaremednetwork.com. Here you will also find other health and awareness tips.

Role of Histamine, Metabolism, Neuro-excitatory and Neurotransmitters for Addiction

Have Scientists Found a Molecule that Blocks Cocaine Addiction?

July 18, 2014

What is cocaine addiction?

A person is considered to have cocaine addiction when he/she is faced with a psychological desire to use cocaine regularly. This is also referred to as a stated of cocaine dependency. The risk of being in this state is that, overdose of cocaine may result to cardiovascular and brain damage such as constriction of blood vessels in the brain, which may result to stroke and if the constriction occurs in the arteries in the heart, it may cause heart attack especially in the central nervous system.

The problem of cocaine related addiction has been on the rise, even though cocaine is an illegal drug almost in every part of the world. This alarming problem has prompted researches to try to curb the problem.

Have Scientists finally found a Molecule that Blocks Cocaine Addiction?

There has been some breakthrough in the search for the molecule that blocks the cocaine molecule, but the big question is, have the scientists really discovered a molecule that is capable of blocking the cocaine molecule? Or is it the beginning of the big discovery? This still debatable, but let’s look at what they have already achieved.

What scientist have already discovered

The recent researches reports show that scientist have been able to identify a molecule that they claim can block the cocaine molecule. This molecule is known as CGP3466B. In the recent study, this molecule was able to block cocaine addiction in mice. Does the molecule then block the cocaine molecules in human? Scientists have been testing the molecule or the compound CGP3466B on humans for the treatment of Parkson’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, but unfortunately it didn’t work. Fortunately, the researchers were able to know the pathway that cocaine works on, and knew CGP3466B was able to block that specific pathway.

How was the research conducted?

The study used mice, by giving them choice to choose two rooms for visiting freely. One of these rooms occasionally dispensed cocaine while the other didn’t. The point of interest was to let the mice eat the cocaine, until a point when they would be addicted. The mice were considered addicted when they remained in the cocaine dispensed room without bothering going to the other room. The addicted mice then received the CGP3466B dose. Let’s now see what the scientists observed after giving the addicted mice the CGP3466B molecule dose. The scientists found that the addicted mice resumed their normal time schedules by spending equal time in both rooms. This was a clear indication that they were no longer addicted.

The most exciting part is on how this drug works. This dose works at very low doses, and it looks to have no possibility of any side effect, since it works by blocking specific pathways and not affecting any other part. This study on CGP3466B was very vital since it helped in the confirmation of the details of cocaine’s action and potential treatment options.

How will you identify somebody addicted with cocaine?

Cocaine is one of the drugs which causes very powerful effects by acting upon the brain. The most common symptoms of addiction are:-

Loss of sense of smell
Increased libido
Isolation from friends and family members
Lying about drug use
Depression after long period of abuse
Feeling of superiority where one feels above the others
Mood swings
Increased energy and alertness
Engagement in risky sex
Violent behaviors
Damage in nasal passage
Dilated pupils
Vasoconstriction of blood vessels in the heart.
Chronic runny nose

It is important to note that some of these symptoms are similar to those shown by addiction from other substances, and you may not be able to conclude at once that a given person is addicted of cocaine because a given behavior like violence has been depicted. It could be addiction from marijuana, or even another factor not related to addiction. Just like with any other type of addiction, try to assemble sufficient evidence grounds for conclusion on addiction.

cocaine addiction

Effects of Cocaine Addiction to our bodies?

This is actually a knowledge that every person should have. The dangers of using cocaine are deadly. This is one of the worst illegal drug substances which despite their threat to healthy living many people are still abusing them. Let’s look at the dangers of cocaine abuse;

Cocaine is known to cause heart attack
It may lead to permanent damage of lungs
It may cause ulcers
It is also reported to cause decrease in sexual activity
It causes serious skin infections and abscesses
Perforation of the stomach is also a common problem
It also causes perforation of nasal activity
Seizures are also common when one is an addict of cocaine.
Strokes due to the blockage of blood vessels in the heart are also a threat.
Also something that is worth mentioning is that cocaine abuse can lead to death if un-attended in time.

Looking at all these effects of abusing cocaine, and when you turn to every corner of the world people are abusing this drug, every human being will always pray that the scientists researches on the treatment of this killer disease be successful. This is the only thing that will save the world but not illegalizing the drug.

Have Scientists Found a Molecule that Blocks Cocaine Addiction?

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