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Biological influences of cocaine
Biological influences of cocaine
Phsyiological effects of cocaine research paper
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Cocaine Cocaine is a powerfully addictive drug of abuse. Individuals who have tried cocaine have described the experience as a powerful high that gave them a feeling of supremacy. However, once someone starts taking cocaine, one cannot predict or control the extent to which he or she will continue to use the drug. The major ways of taking cocaine are sniffing or snorting, injecting, and smoking (including free-base and crack cocaine). Health risks exist regardless of whether cocaine is inhaled (snorted), injected, or smoked. However, it appears that compulsive cocaine use may develop even more rapidly if the substance is smoked rather than snorted. Smoking allows extremely high doses of cocaine to reach the brain very quickly and results in an intense and immediate high. The injecting drug user is also at risk for acquiring or transmitting HIV infection/AIDS if needles or other injection equipment are shared. Health Hazards • Physical effects. Physical effects of cocaine use include constricted peripheral blood vessels, dilated pupils, and increased body temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure. Some cocaine users report feelings of restlessness, irritability, and anxiety, both while using and between periods of use. An appreciable tolerance to the high may be developed, and many addicts report that they seek but fail to achieve as much pleasure as they did from their first exposure. • Paranoia and aggression. High doses of cocaine and/or prolonged use can trigger paranoia. Smoking crack cocaine can produce particularly aggressive paranoid behavior in users. When addicted individuals stop using cocaine, they may become depressed. This depression causes users to continue to use the drug to alleviate their depression. • Long-term effects. Prolonged cocaine snorting can result in ulceration of the mucous membrane of the nose and can damage the nasal septum enough to cause it to collapse.
Cocaine is a Schedule II drug, known for its addictive properties and permissive medicinal administration. Cocaine exists in two forms: water soluble and insoluble; these forms can enter the bloodstream by mechanism of oral ingestion, intravenous injection, inhalation, and intranasal inhalation (Volkow, 2010). Cocaine is a stimulus, therefore the use of cocaine stimulates the para-sympathetic nervous system, exciting physiological reactions, but also creating a sense of euphoria resulting from an increase in dopamine activity (Barlow & Durand, 2012). Cocaine is effective in stimulating euphoria because of the dopamine agonists properties it possesses (Carlson, 2013).
David, A.G (2013). Cocaine use disorder in adults: Epidemiology, pharmacology, clinical manifestations, medical consequences, and diagnosis. ©2014 UpToDate, Inc.
Drug alters the function and structure of a living tissue. Crack cocaine causes a person to be hyperactive, alert, feel “good”, speed up metabolism etc. However, these temporary “good” feelings result in death, nausea, vomiting, respiratory bleeding and many more. Nevertheless, there are lots of rehab centers for the abusers and the doctors or rehab counselors start the patient’s treatments once they have been submitted. We need to be away from taking crack cocaine and help the abusers by pushing them to detox centers.
Cocaine (C17H21NO4) comes from the leaf of an Erythroxylon coca bush. It is a drug that effects the central nervous system. It causes feelings of euphoria, pleasure, increased energy and alertness. People under the influence of cocaine often do not feel the need for food or sleep. They also feel energetic and may talk a lot. However, depending on factors such as environment, dosage, and the manner in which the drug is taken, cocaine can have adverse effects such as violent, erratic behavior, dizziness, paranoia, insomnia, convulsions, and heart failure to name a few. Long- term effects of cocaine include, but are not limited to strokes, heart attacks, seizures, loss of memory, and decrease in learning capability (1).
All drugs have a negative effect on the nervous system, but few can match the dramatic impact of cocaine. Cocaine is one of the most potent, addictive, and unpredictable recreational drugs, and thus can cause the most profound and irreversible damage to the nervous system. The high risk associated with cocaine remains the same regardless of whether the drug is snorted, smoked, or injected into the user¡¯s bloodstream. In addition to the intense damage cocaine can cause to the liver, intestines, heart, and lungs, even casual use of the drug will impair the brain and cause serious damage to the central nervous system. Although cocaine use affects many components of the body, including vision and appetite, the most significant damage cause by cocaine takes place in the brain and central nervous system.
Cocaine is an addictive drug derived from the leaves of the coca plant. It is a strong stimulant mostly used as a recreational drug. Cocaine is commonly snorted, inhaled, or injected into the veins. It is one of the most widespread drugs in the United States. It is readily absorbed through the body’s mucous membranes. The onset of the action depends on the route of administration, which can take between three seconds to five minutes. Peak effects also depend on the route of administration which can take between one to twenty minutes or five to ninety minutes. Cocaine has a half-life of thirty to sixty minutes. Approximately 25-30 million Americans use cocaine
A study done by Puig and colleagues (2012) compared the effects of intermittent (once daily) and binge (three times a day) cocaine treatment for 1 and 14 days after the last cocaine injection on spontaneous locomotor activity and dopamine levels in the NAc in rats. The intermittent treatment led to a spontaneous increase in dopamine and in locomotor activity at the exact hour which rats were habituated to receive a cocaine injection (Puig, Noble & Benturquia, 2012). The binge treatment led to sensitization of locomotor effects of cocaine, associated to a dopamine release sensitization in the NAc (Puig, Noble & Benturquia, 2012). These results show the addictive nature of cocaine and the behavioural and sensitization effects it has on the animal, which can be related to the effects it can possibly have on humans (Puig, Noble & Benturquia,
The use of cocaine can result in heart and brain damage. It can cause strokes and constricting arteries in the heart, causing heart attacks (Dictionary.com). Cocaine use is associated with an increased risk of a range of somatic, psychological, and social problems, such as cardiac toxicity, psychosis, mood and anxiety disorders, aggression and crime” (Burda, DesLauriers & Goldstein,2009). Cocaine is also the most frequent drug related cause of emergency room visits in the United States (Burda et al., 2009). Cocaine causes some symptoms in the central nervous system like euphoria and increased self confidence when taken at a lower dose. When it is taken at a higher does it causes hallucinations, aggressiveness and disorientation. Continued use of cocaine caused the depletion of stored dopamine and this causes intense cravings for cocaine. With all the reported cocaine overdoses in the news and the fact that as children we are told about the effects of drugs, people still use them every day. Knowing just doesn’t seem like enough of a deterrent. We even see drug addicts on street corners and still it’s not enough. The drug addictions and drug overdoses will continue until a person has everything taken from them, and then maybe they will learn that the high is just not worth
Cocaine is a powerful addictive drug that affects the whole body in different ways. This drug has been around in America since 1855. In this year there were products that the average person used that had amounts of cocaine in it. The products that had cocaine in it were the beverage coke cola and medicine for numbing your gums. But before manufactures’ were using cocaine in things we use, three thousand years before the ancient Inca people use to chew coca leaves, which is one of the ingredients of making cocaine. They chewed coco leaves to get there heart racing and to speed up their breathing so they can work longer hours and because they lived where there was thin air. Also by them chewing the coco leaves it would tell their body that they aren’t hunger because they didn’t have enough food to eat. Cocaine was really popular between 1970s and 1980s in New York City. It was a large amount of people that died from this drug around this time.
Cocaine addiction causes various changes to develop in the body of an addict especially most resulting in the brain. One of the effects of cocaine is that it blocks pain sensation and it stimulates the central nervous system causing changes in cell signaling and brain circuitry to develop. Some of the changes cocaine addiction causes in the brain is cognitive impairments which result in deficits in decision-making, abstract reasoning, and nonverbal problem solving. Cocaine also causes affective dysfunctions such as depressive disorders and attention deficit disorder. Other problems cocaine addicts can develop due to their cocaine addiction is digestive disorders, weight loss, and physical deterioration. The use of cocaine accelerates the heart rate and increases blood pressure which can led to an addict suffering a heart attack or stroke which can become
Cocaine is made from leaves of the coca plant. It's highly addictive and dangerous to the user's health. In 2014, approximately 1.5 million people ages 12 or older were current users of the drug. https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/cocaine/what-scope-cocaine-use-in-united-states
Therefore, there is no reuptake and the dopamine increases, creating this intense euphoria (NIDA, 2013). Cocaine carries a high risk of addiction, since tolerance continually increases. Heart attack, stroke, and malnourishment are other side effects (Ackerman, 2014). The emotional effects include paranoia, anxiety, and irritability (Ackerman, 2014). Cocaine is a potent substance, and the effects on a pregnancy can be devastating.
First of all this research paper will examine the history of cocaine, answer exactly who used it, effects of the drug and its addictive nature. People choose to write about cocaine so that others can clearly see and understand its historical origins and dangerous properties. Those who experiment with drugs should become aware of their dangerous effects and take caution. The more people that become knowledgeable about cocaine, the more they can protect themselves from seriously endangering themselves. Cocaine users that are seriously dependent on the drug can seek treatment and rehabilitate. Most cocaine users do not realize they have a problem until it becomes too late. Much like the alcoholic, a cocaine dependent’s body has accepted the drug and is used to it being in the body’s system. When the body needs it, and the user does not have it, withdrawal takes place. In this case, a long, gradual process of lessening the dosage is the only route for success.
Cocaine can be snorted, smoked, injected or even chewed; it can be consumed in any way as long as it ends up in the blood stream. It is a stimulant drug, meaning the messages travelling between the brain and body speed up. Cocaine affects the production, uptake and breaking down of three chemicals that naturally take place in the brain. These are: Dopamine, Serotonin and Norepinephrine. ...
Cocaine use makes the fight center in the limbic center hyper-activated, as well as the emotional triggers are over stimulated, which makes sense as to why Jordan slaps his wife and then tries to kidnap his own child after snorting cocaine. All of this rage and emotion were running through him and it made him explode. They also state that cocaine raises the heart rate and constricts blood vessels, Jordan’s physical state showed signs of heart rate acceleration and then he would do another line of cocaine. Throughout the movie, cocaine was used which meant that Jordan was a compulsive cocaine user. Inaba, Cohen and Pharm (2014) state that besides hereditary and environmental vulnerability, like Jordan’s case of stress with the FBI investigating him, people use cocaine compulsively to recapture that first rush they had, cocaine changes the way the brain works and, therefore, makes it more vulnerable to cravings, and to control the symptoms of depression. I think this movie shows every stage of cocaine use. From when he had stress, so he had to find a way to cope, to feeling the symptoms, to leading to other drugs, to getting in trouble with the law, to finally trying to sober up. What is great about this movie is that it shows something that can happen to someone and as well was based on something that actually happened