subject: The Damaging Effects Of Substance Addiction [print this page] The term "abuse" or "addiction" implies indiscriminate use or overdose of a drug which makes the safest of medication usher unfavorable effects. Apart from alcohol and nicotine, the most over used substances in America are cannabis, prescription medications, cocaine, crack and heroin. These can trigger a wide array of health risks to life-threatening manifestations. Even liquor which appears to have milder impacts on health can bring about serious impairments of mental processes as well as serious disorders like pancreatitis and liver cirrhosis. This is why rehab center for alcohol is an indispensable tool towards healing fromalcohol abuse.
The health and physical effects of the lowly cannabis and domestic inhalants to prescription medications, narcotics, steroids and designer drugs are varied and extended use can be extremely debilitating and life-threatening. Only early treatments or rehabilitative drug abuse programs can change what's foreseeable and inevitable.
1. Misuse of cannabis is notable with certain physical symptoms such as bloodshot eyes, improved appetite and dry mouth and throat. Chronic or habitual use may damage brain potentials - impaired memory, poor concentration and coordination, psychosis, and diminished reproductive ability.
2. Home-based inhalants including spray paints, solvents, aerosols and adhesives can damage the heart, lungs, liver and the brain. Its long-term use can lead to excessive weight loss, long term damages to the brain, and various organs. Aggressive behavior, confusion or death are all plausible.
3. Prescription drugs include analgesics , depressants, stimulants, hallucinogens and other drugs intended to deal with diseases or reduce discomforts. Indiscriminate and frequent use can bring about increased threshold and addiction. The effects are different from accelerated heart beat and elevated blood pressure to extreme opposite like arrhythmia and hypotension. This may also affect the desire for food, speech, and other senses, memory, and swift changes in moods.
4. Cocaine and narcotics like heroin, morphine, codeine, opium, and methadone affect the central nervous system. Overdose could cause symptoms like euphoria, convulsions, hallucinations, hypertension along with respiratory failure in extreme cases.
5. Designer drugs are a new breed of party drugs that are popular among teenagers and yuppies. A few examples are Ecstacy, Meperidine and Fenatyl. These are related to amphetamines and depressants that can induce severe injuries to the human brain. Some symptoms are hallucination and impaired perception of external stimuli.
All these drugs may cause immediate harmful effects on health, perceptions, and mental functions. Addiction and sustained use can cause severe impairment of functions of vital organs like heart, lungs, brain and liver. Without assistance, addiction can bring about cardiac arrest, broken lives and ruined health.
