Cocaine: Facts, Addiction, and Effects
Cocaine is a very addictive and a naturally developing pain blocker, or anesthetic.
Fast facts on cocaine
Here are some fast facts about cocaine.
- Cocaine can be injected, smoked, or snorted
- Crack is another type of cocaine
- Long-term use increases the possibility of heart disease
- It can produce changes to the configuration of the brain
Effects
- Cocaine has a very dominant stimulating effect on the nervous system. It increases levels of dopamine, a neurotransmitter associated with the brain’s reward circuit, pleasure, and movement.
- Normally, neurons discharge dopamine in response to a pleasing stimulus, such as the fragrance of a favorite perfume. Once the dopamine has delivered its message, it goes back into the neuron, and the signal diminishes.
- It restricts the return of dopamine to the neuron, so it stores and continues to pass the pleasing messages to the brain.
- The additional dopamine provides the user a feeling of improved well-being, alertness, energy, euphoria, and motor activity.
- The effects usually last between 15 and 30 minutes, but are shorter with its second type, crack.
Risks
Both cocaine and crack are banned drugs. This is because they cause health risks.
Addiction
Cocaine is a very addictive drug in use.
Long-term use can slowly change the brain’s reward system, aggregating the risk of addiction.
In rare users, physical or social problems are not common, but scientists claim there is no safe volume of cocaine.
Individuals who are addicted may ultimately choose to take cocaine to any other activity. Their lifestyles may change completely as the addiction takes grip.
The individual may lose their home, job, or family, and become bankrupt. The results can be fatal.
Overdose
An overdose of cocaine can lead to one or more seizures, fatal heart failure, respiratory failure, stroke, and cerebral hemorrhage.
Regular use, even without overdose, can increase the risk of dangerous health consequences.
There is no definite medication for the treatment of its overdose.
Some studies have revealed that those who smoke or inject it have a higher risk of complications than the persons who snort it. Smokers tend to have an addiction faster than individuals who snort.
Smoking cocaine also upturns the risk of increasing respiratory problems, such as lung trauma, coughing, and shortness of breath, including bleeding.
Physical changes
Studies at the University of Cambridge found abnormal brain configuration in the frontal lobe of the users.
The study team scanned the brains of 120 people; half of them were addicted to the use of cocaine. The loss was higher among those who had taken the drug for a longer time.
The basal ganglion, a part of the nervous system that houses the reward system, was found to be bigger among people who were using it on regular basis.
The scientists believe that the basal ganglia were enlarged before the addiction started. This would recommend that some individuals might be more susceptible to the addictive effects of this drug.
Risk of stroke and heart attack
Researches indicate that cocaine use can threateningly increase the risk of a stroke or heart attack.
Fun users have been seen to have higher blood pressure, thicker heart muscle walls, harder arteries, and up to a 35 greater risk of a hardening aorta, as compared to people who have never used cocaine or other drugs.