Strong central nervous system stimulant: Crack cocaine
Without missing the words, cocaine is a strong central nervous system stimulant that raises the levels of dopamine. Doctor Dalal Akoury MD, President and founder of AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center explains that this is a brain chemical which is associated with pleasure and movement, in the brain’s reward circuit. And since dopamine facilitates communication in some brain cell commonly known as neurons, which are 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.
Strong central nervous system stimulant: Health consequences
There is no doubt that cocaine abuse impact on health negatively in very many ways. Doctor Akoury explains that among many other consequences, the following are outstanding:
- Blood pressure
- Cocaine compresses blood vessels
- Dilates eye pupils
- Heart rate
- Increases body temperature
Being a strong central nervous system stimulant, it can also cause headaches and gastrointestinal complications such as abdominal pain and nausea. Alongside that, it is worth noting that since cocaine tends to decrease appetite, chronic users can become malnourished as well.
Strong central nervous system stimulant: Effects associated with mode of administration
Even though the dangers remain the same, it will interest you to note that these modes of administration of cocaine (smoking, snorting, injestion and injection) can produce different adverse effects including the following:
- Regularly snorting cocaine, can lead to loss of the sense of smell, nose bleeding, 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.
In conclusion doctor Akoury is making emphasis that it doesn’t matter how it is administered or the frequency of cocaine use, in all these users can experience acute cardiovascular or cerebrovascular 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 founded 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.
Strong central nervous system stimulant: Crack cocaine
