![]() ![]() In 2017, the Global Burden of Disease study found that cocaine use caused around 7300 deaths annually world-wide. Illicitly sold cocaine is commonly adulterated with local anesthetics, levamisole, cornstarch, quinine, or sugar, which can result in additional toxicity. It also increases risk of stroke, heart attack, cardiac arrhythmia, lung injury (when smoked), and sudden cardiac death. Use of cocaine increases the overall risk of death and intravenous use particularly increases the risk of trauma and infectious diseases such as blood infections and HIV. Addicts who abstain from cocaine experience cocaine craving and drug withdrawal, with depression, decreased libido, decreased ability to feel pleasure and fatigue. Repeated use is likely to result in cocaine addiction. Ī single dose of cocaine induces tolerance to the drug's effects. Cocaine also blocks the serotonin transporter and norepinephrine transporter, inhibiting reuptake of serotonin and norepinephrine from the synaptic cleft into the pre-synaptic axon terminal and increasing activation of serotonin receptors and norepinephrine receptors in the post-synaptic neuron, contributing to the mental and physical effects of cocaine exposure. Cocaine blocks the dopamine transporter, inhibiting reuptake of dopamine from the synaptic cleft into the pre-synaptic axon terminal the higher dopamine levels in the synaptic cleft increase dopamine receptor activation in the post-synaptic neuron, causing euphoria and arousal. Ĭocaine crosses the blood-brain barrier via a proton-coupled organic cation antiporter and (to a lesser extent) via passive diffusion across cell membranes. As cocaine also has numbing and blood vessel constriction properties, it is occasionally used during surgery on the throat or inside of the nose to control pain, bleeding, and vocal cord spasm. Effects begin within seconds to minutes of use and last between five and ninety minutes. High doses can result in high blood pressure or high body temperature. Physical effects may include a fast heart rate, sweating, and dilated pupils. Mental effects may include an intense feeling of happiness, sexual arousal, loss of contact with reality, or agitation. Cocaine stimulates the reward pathway in the brain. ![]() After extraction from coca leaves and further processing into cocaine hydrochloride (powdered cocaine), the drug may be snorted, heated until sublimated and then inhaled, or dissolved and injected into a vein. Cocaine (from French: cocaïne, from Spanish: coca, ultimately from Quechua: kúka) is a stimulant drug obtained from the leaves of two Coca species native to South America, Erythroxylum coca and Erythroxylum novogranatense. ![]()
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