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Cocaine and Crack Abuse are great Threats

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

Cocaine and Crack Abuse are great Threats

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

 

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Medications for Heroin and Pain Pill Addiction

Medications for Heroin and Pain Pill Addiction: Their Effectiveness and Side effects

Medications for Heroin and Pain Pill Addiction

Medications for Heroin and Pain Pill Addiction begins with detoxification.

The best way of handling substance abuse is primarily to prevent it from happening. Treatment cannot be an option if we all did the right things and prevented it from happening. But because of the short comings we have as a society, we have found ourselves with this problem and so we have to take the next appropriate cause of action. When one is already addicted to any drug, treatment must take place immediately. For this reason, we want to explore into this discussion some of the medications for heroin and pain pill addiction to help us restore our life back to normalcy. It is however important to note that when we are talking about treatment, everyone is involved. This is not something that is left to the medical professionals only. Family members, friends and relatives have a major role to play in the recovery process of their loved ones. Doctor Dalal Akoury is going to take us through some of the available medications for this purpose.

Experts at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center a facility founded by doctor Akoury are in agreement that unlike in the past, today there are so many types of medications that are applicable to heroin addiction and other substance abuse. Such treatment options may including medications, behavioral therapies and support groups. We are privileged that there are very many health facilities across the globe that are professionally handling matters relating to addiction. However doctor Akoury says that when settling for one, you must seek for more information to establish whether your needs will be handled professionally and with great confidentiality.

Under normal circumstances treatment often begins with medically assisted detoxification, the reasons for this is to help patients withdraw from the drugs they are addicted to safely. Nonetheless it is important to note that detoxification alone is not enough treatment and has not been shown to be effective in preventing relapse. This is merely the starting point. Therefore after detoxification, cognitive behavioral therapy, psychotherapy, marriage and family counseling or any other form of psychotherapy that fits the patient’s needs will follow. The next step would be procedures of reintegration into the society and most importantly is getting a lifestyle that is abstinent from heroin and any other drug for that matter says doctor Dalal Akoury.

Medications for Heroin and Pain Pill Addiction: Heroin Withdrawal

Ordinarily the withdrawal syndrome from heroin may begin within 6 to 24 hours of cessation of the drug; whereas this is the procedure, this time frame may fluctuate depending on the degree of tolerance and the quantity of the last dose of drugs consumed. This can be identified easily by the following symptoms: sweating, malaise, anxiety, depression, priapism, extra sensitivity of the genitals in females, general feeling of heaviness, cramp-like pains in the limbs, excessive yawning or sneezing, tears, sleep difficulties (insomnia), cold sweats, chills, severe muscle and bone aches, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, cramps and fever.

Besides those symptoms, many addicts also complain of a painful condition, commonly referred to as “itchy blood”, which often results in compulsive scratching that causes bruises and sometimes ruptures the skin, leaving scabs. Abrupt termination of heroin use often causes muscle spasms in the legs (restless leg syndrome). The intensity of the withdrawal syndrome is variable depending on the dosage of the drug used and the frequency of use. Very severe withdrawal can be precipitated by administering an opioid antagonist to a heroin addict.

Medications for Heroin and Pain Pill Addiction: Physical Opioid withdrawal

Three general approaches are available to ease the physical part of opioid withdrawal and they include the following:

The first is to substitute a longer acting opioid such as methadone or buprenorphine for heroin or occasionally another short acting opioid and then slowly taper the dose.

In the second approach, benzodiazepines such as diazepam (Valium) may be recommended for opiate withdrawal especially if there is comorbid alcohol withdrawal. Benzodiazepines may temporarily ease the anxiety, muscle spasms, and insomnia associated with opioid withdrawal.

The use of benzodiazepines must be carefully monitored because these drugs have a high risk of physical dependence as well as abuse potential and have little or no cross tolerance with opiates and thus are not generally recommended as a first line treatment strategy. Although heroin withdrawal is very unpleasant, it is rarely fatal.

Medications for Heroin and Pain Pill Addiction: Medications to Assist in Heroin Detox and Help Prevent Relapse

Methadone – this has been used for more than 30 years to treat heroin addiction. It is a synthetic opiate medication that binds to the same receptors as heroin; however, when taken orally, it has a gradual onset of action and sustained effects, reducing the desire for other opioid drugs while preventing withdrawal symptoms. Properly prescribed methadone is not intoxicating or sedating, and its effects do not interfere with ordinary daily activities. At the present time, methadone is only available through specialized opiate treatment programs. And like any other medication, it also has some side effects including the following: Drowsiness, weakness, nausea, constipation, headache and loss of appetite.

Buprenorphine – this medication was recently approved to be one of the options for heroin treatment including other substances as well. The difference between this and methadone is that it has lesser risk factors for overdose and withdrawal effects and most importantly, it can be prescribed in the privacy of a doctor’s office. Its side effects may include; Headaches, flu-like symptoms, dizziness, constipation, upset stomach, sleep problems.

Naltrexone – even though naltrexone is recommended for treating heroin addiction, it has not been widely utilized because of compliance issues. It is an opioid receptor blocker which has been confirmed to be effective in highly motivated patients. It should only be administered to patients who have gone through detoxification in order to prevent severe withdrawal symptoms. Its side effects may include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, headache, dizziness.

Naloxone – this is a shorter acting opioid receptor blocker used to treat cases of overdose.

Finally when you are opting to using any of these medications, it will be very important that you consult with your doctor from time to time. Remember that prevention is very key in sustaining good health. Therefore you can talk to doctor Akoury today for professional guidance in handling medications for heroin and pain pill addictions in your life.

Medications for Heroin and Pain Pill Addiction: Their Effectiveness and Side effects

 

 

 

 

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The best treatment solutions for cocaine abusers

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

The best treatment solutions for cocaine abusers

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

 

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The long and short term effects of cocaine

The long and short term effects of cocaine: The chronic nature of Cancer

The long and short term effects of cocaine

The long and short term effects of cocaine are all manageable is only preventive measures can be taken

There is no doubt that cocaine is very addictive substance. Its power of addictiveness makes it to be very unpredictable and thus users may not be able to tell or control the extent to which they will continue to want or use the drug. Doctor Akoury says that with these characteristics, if one is to become addicted, the risk for relapse will be very high even after long periods of abstinence. Some studies have established that during periods of abstinence, the memory of the cocaine experience or exposure to cues associated with drug use can trigger tremendous craving and relapse to drug use. It is this craving element that will necessitate the long and short term effects of cocaine which is going to form the basis of this discussion.

Cocaine causes a short-lived, intense high that is immediately followed by the opposite intense depression, edginess and a craving for more of the drug. Users of cocaine often don’t eat or sleep properly. They can experience greatly increased heart rate, muscle spasms and convulsions. The drug can make them feel paranoid, angry, hostile and anxious even when they are just sober and not high. Doctor Akoury says that irrespective of the quantity of drugs used or frequency with which it is used, cocaine increases the vulnerability of addicts into contracting chronic diseases like heart attack, stroke, seizure or respiratory (breathing) failure. These conditions can be life threatening and any of them can result in sudden death.

The long and short term effects of cocaine: What are the long term effects of cocaine?

The phrase “dope fiend” was originally coined many years ago to describe the negative side effects of constant cocaine use. As tolerance to the drug increases, it becomes necessary to take greater and greater quantities to get the same high. Prolonged daily use causes sleep deprivation and loss of appetite. A person can become psychotic and begin to experience hallucinations. And because cocaine interferes with the way the brain processes chemicals, users will in many instances need more and more of the drug just to feel “normal.” People who become addicted to cocaine and even addicts of other drugs may lose interest in other areas of life. Doctor Akoury says that coming down from the drug causes severe depression that an addict will do all that it takes to get the supply even if it would mean that he has to commit murder. In the event that the individual fails to get the drug (cocaine) he or she will suffer even greater depression that can be so much intense that can push them beyond the limit and even turn suicidal. That is the power of cocaine and the reason why we all need to know the long and short term effects of cocaine. This way we will be able to take timely precaution and remedy the situation before it stretches beyond the redeemable levels. Now let us consider some of the long term effect which is associated with cocaine abuse.

The long and short term effects of cocaine: Long term effects

When people abuse cocaine over a period of time, a lot of things can happen in the lives of such individuals. Some of those health implications may include the following:

  • Permanent damage to blood vessels of the heart and the brain
  • High blood pressure that will occasionally leads to other chronic health conditions including heart attacks, strokes and even death
  • The damage of vital organs like the liver, kidney and the lungs
  • Damages of the nose tissues especially when sneezing
  • Respiratory failure if smoked
  • Infectious diseases and abscesses if injected
  • Malnutrition, weight loss
  • Severe tooth decay
  • Auditory and tactile hallucinations
  • Sexual problems, reproductive damage and infertility which will affect both men and women in the same way
  • Disorientation, apathy, confused exhaustion
  • Irritability and mood disturbances
  • Increased frequency of risky behavior
  • Delirium or psychosis
  • Severe depression
  • Tolerance and addiction (even after just one use)

The point we have highlighted may not be conclusive as far as the long term effects is concern. It would be better if you are up to date will all health information surrounding this substance abuse. Such information in their conclusiveness is available at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center. This is a facility with was founded by doctor Dalal Akoury primarily to offer her exclusive NER Recovery Treatment to everyone including other physicians and health care professionals through training, clinical apprenticeships, webinars and seminars. It may not matter what kind of addiction you are struggling with, there is hope for you with the experts at this facility. All you need to do is to seek for help by scheduling for an appointment with doctor Dalal Akoury any your condition will be professionally addressed timely leaving you to enjoy life to the fullest. In spite of the long term effects of cocaine abuse, there are also other factors which may not necessarily be of long term but of short term. They may include the following:

The long and short term effects of cocaine: Short term effects

  • Loss of appetite causing the addict not to feed properly
  • Intense drug craving
  • Bizarre, erratic, sometimes violent behavior
  • Convulsions, seizures and sudden death from high doses (even one time)
  • Tactile hallucination that creates the illusion of bugs burrowing under the skin
  • Increased heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature
  • Contracted blood vessels
  • Dilated pupils
  • Disturbed sleep patterns
  • Nausea
  • Hyper-stimulation
  • Intense euphoria
  • Depression
  • Panic and psychosis
  • Increased rate of breathing
  • Hallucinations, hyper-excitability, irritability
  • Anxiety and paranoia

Finally it is not just enough to know the long and short term effects of cocaine but it is equally very important that you learn from the past people who had gone through the same experience. And I want to conclude this discussion with a testimony from one former addict who is now sober and he says “don’t touch cocaine. I had to spend four years behind bars just because of this drug (cocaine). And when I got out he continues, life was so hard and unbearable. I started taking the drug again. In this drug business, I have known 10 girls who were full of life but who became prostitutes because of cocaine. It’s much more extreme and degrading than we believe. At the time we don’t realize to what degree it destroys us he concludes.” Choose life and seek for help doctor Akoury will be waiting for your call.

The long and short term effects of cocaine: The chronic nature of Cancer

 

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The inversion of Cocaine in your brain

The inversion of Cocaine in your brain: Effects of Cocaine in the Nerve system

The inversion of Cocaine in your brain

The inversion of Cocaine in your brain. Cocaine has an extremely rapid euphoric effect on the user, especially when smoked or snorted.

Cocaine is very addictive and a psychoactive drug affecting the central nervous system primarily. Originally it is prepared from the leaf of the Erythroxylon coca bush, which grows mainly in Peru and Bolivia. The simplicity of its usage has made the inversion of cocaine in your brain more chronic and threatening. As a matter of facts this drug is self-administered in several ways explains doctor Dalal Akoury. The most common method of cocaine abuse is snorting in its powder form into the nasal sinuses, either alone or with the accompaniment of heroin (speedball). This drug is easily available in the streets as a hydrochloride salt which is a fine, white crystalline powder known in several street manes as coke, C, snow, flake, or blow. Besides snorting, the drug can also be administered through smoking which for many is effective in producing quick result as crack cocaine.

According to the experts at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center, cocaine produces a wide range of physiological effects in humans, including the stimulation of a plethora of emotional experiences. When people take in cocaine, they become euphoric, over exited, highly active and more talkative than normal. When they use this drug, they experience the feelings of extreme power and alertness. This initial high is followed by sessions of severe anxiety, paranoia, and depression, which often lead to addiction. Those who become addicted to the drug often turn the habit into an obsession, so that they devote more, and more of their time and money to acquiring and using the drug explains doctor Akoury. Therefore what are some of the notable symptoms of addiction for users?

The inversion of Cocaine in your brain: Symptoms of addiction

People who abuse these drugs regularly often exhibit psychotic behavior such as:

  • Hallucinations
  • Delusions of persecution
  • Mood disturbances
  • Repetitive behaviors

All these closely resemble the symptoms of paranoid schizophrenia. Trained mental health professionals have difficulties in telling a schizophrenic and cocaine addict apart unless they know the patient’s background. Although the psychological and behavioral effects of cocaine use in humans have been well documented, the current knowledge of the neurological basis for the abuse of cocaine in humans is still limited. The majority of knowledge we possess about the mechanisms of the effects of cocaine comes from animal studies performed over the last 20 years. These studies have clearly demonstrated the crucial role of the neurotransmitter dopamine in initiating many of the effects of cocaine use.

The inversion of Cocaine in your brain: Effects on the brain

Cocaine is an indirect dopamine agonist. Once in the brain, it works in large part by occupying, or blocking, dopamine transporter sites in the terminal buttons of neurons in the brain. This prevents the reuptake of dopamine by the neurons that release it, allowing higher concentrations of dopamine to remain in the synapse for an extended period of time. This abnormally long presence, and high concentration, of dopamine in the synapse is believed to cause the high associated with cocaine use. Dopamine has been implicated in several important functions, including movement, attention, learning, and the reinforcing effects of drug use. Therefore, its extended presence in high concentrations will be effective in the particular parts of the brain that control these functions, such as the basal ganglia and the limbic system.

The inversion of Cocaine in your brain: Cocaine and the dopamine transporter

Studies have confirmed that the reinforcing effects of cocaine involve dopamine transporter molecules. In a dopamine study, a group of scientists produced a targeted mutation of the gene responsible for production of the dopamine transporter protein in mice. In their findings, it was established that several compensatory mechanisms in an animal’s brain help it to adapt to the chronically higher level of dopamine resulting from their mutation induced reuptake inability. One of these mechanisms is a large decrease in post-synaptic dopamine receptors, rendering dopamine less effective. Another strategy is a corresponding decrease in the concentration of tyrosine hydroxylase (enzyme responsible for the synthesis of dopamine), decreasing the availability of dopamine. So, when cocaine was administered to these animals, it had no effect on the animal’s behavior since dopamine reuptake no longer occurred due to lack of functional dopamine transporters. This therefore is a demonstration that the dopamine transporter is essential for cocaine to be able to produce its effects.

The inversion of Cocaine in your brain: A quick fix

Cocaine has an extremely rapid euphoric effect on the user, especially in the case of the smoking method of use, because the drug directly enters the pulmonary blood stream when smoked. Cocaine has a relatively short half-life in the plasma and in the brain. When administered intravenously (IV) to humans, the half-life is in the range of 16 to 87 minutes. This short half-life accounts for the rapid euphoric effects of the drug. Typically, when the drug is administered intravenously, it produces a fast “hit-and-run” effect on the potentiation of the extracellular levels of dopamine. Nonetheless when rats are given a continuous flow of dopamine intravenously, they experience a peak in dopamine levels in just 10 minutes followed by a return to regular levels after 20 to 30 minutes. Because the initial high experienced by cocaine abusers lasts for only a short time, the initial stimulatory actions of cocaine can be attributed to the elevation of synaptic dopamine levels.

Finally the use of drugs not necessarily cocaine is not your portion. Nothing actually comes good out of the use or abuse of drugs in whichever way you look at it. Being safe and free from drugs is the best thing you can do for yourself especially if you are already deeply addicted to it. There is help around you and doctor Dalal Akoury made one of the best decisions to give her professional contribution in helping the struggling societies with addiction. She decided 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. You can also be part of this by scheduling for an appointment with her today and your life will be completely transformed for greater productivity ahead of you. Remember that doctor Akoury’s practice focuses on personalized medicine through healthy lifestyle choices that deal with primary prevention and underlying causes instead of patching up symptoms and this will be very good for you too.

The inversion of Cocaine in your brain: Effects of Cocaine in the Nerve system

 

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