How Does Heroin Cause Addiction?

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How Does Heroin Cause Addiction?

Introduction:

Heroin is an illegal class A drug that mostly comes as a powder processed form of opium. It is made using the resin of poppy plants. Opium is taken from the pod and than refined into morphine (the synthetic form of heroin) and than heroin. It is estimated that 9.2 million people around the world use heroin. Heroin is extremely addictive. Addiction is when somebody consumes a substance or undertakes an activity that is enjoyable however, after extended use, normal life becomes disrupted and possibly dangerous. Drug use begins with investigation and therefore, testing the drug. After original use, the drug may begin to be taken regularly and so use of the drug becomes a pattern: some time after first try, you become tolerant (pleasurable effects are decreased). A period after this, you become dependent: this entails the drug being necessary for you to feel regular. Finally, you become addicted and substance abuse become uncontrollable.

There are many clear symptoms: when you are dependent on a drug, it can mean powerful cravings and uncontrollable use so, when the amount of the drug is low, the person can have physical and emotional withdrawal issues. Furthermore, a symptom of addiction could be obsession with ways in which you can receive the substance. Two more common symptoms are: over abundant usage and difficulty with controlling life away from the substance: relationships can break down and lives can erode away. Addiction makes you drop all awareness of what is happening around you that isn't part of your craving. Therefore, people and things around you that you were formerly very close to (family, school etc.), become secluded. Heroin has many physical and psychologic...

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... to the outside of the cell. This is known as the resting potential. As a result of an adjustment in concentration of sodium and potassium ions in the cell: there is a change in permeability in the cell membrane so sodium channels open, allowing sodium ions to get into the cytoplasm with the concentration gradient, causing the membrane to become depolarized. As soon as the depolarization reaches the threshold level, an action potential is made. Neurones can also communicate chemically. This occurs when an action potential reaches the axon terminal. As a result of this, voltage-gated calcium channels open and therefore, calcium comes into the cell. The calcium then signals to vesicles which than go towards the membrane. After this, neurotransmitters are released through exocytosis. The neurotransmitters than bind to receptors after diffusing across the synaptic gap.

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