Effects of Methamphetamine on the Human Body What Cases Have Been Seen to Prove this and How It Leads To Addiction Essay

yields of methamphetamine hydrochlorideamphetamine on the Human Body What Cases induct Been Seen to Prove this and How It Leads To addictionIntroductionPart A What effect does the over dependency to crosspatch cause to the human body. Are there any cases that have got been reported to prove this and if yes which ones are they?Methamphetamine is a powerful, highly addictive stimulant that is a bitter tasting white crystalline powder innocent(p) of smell. In street language it is popularly known as ice, chalk, crystal or meth with high solubility in water and alcohol qualification it an easy target for packaging into various forms. Methamphetamine affects the central nervous system and once it is in the body system, it creates a short but yrning rush and users start experiencing a sense of change magnitude activity, change magnitude appetite, and strong feelings of well being, high energy levels and sense of much power with the feeling permanent from a pe riod of 20 minutes to 12 hours. When the do start to where off, the user is left with a feeling of drained helplessness and depression this effects leads to the user having a high craving for the do do drugss to maintain the state of euphoria. This craving for a sense of well being, hyper activity sense of power is what leads to addiction. Addiction to methamphetamine has to a large extent been classified as a moral issue by the public while to medical exam practitioners it has also gained weight as a medical issue. Methamphetamine causes development of position effects which are increased activity, euphoria and decreased appetite with methamphetamine being more potent because it passes through the blood brain barrier and enters the brain cells. The effects are more long lasting making it more dangerous on the central nervous system. It has been reported to have effects lasting as long as eight hours. This inquiry will focus more or lessly on the scientific look for that has been carried out on methamphetamine addiction, its align effects and how it causes them and any remedies.Part B By the end of this learning process, the fol offseting objectives should be met.Reasons that lead to use of methamphetamine should be clearly understood.The various side effects should be well outlined and possible causes explained.Mechanisms involved and leading to methamphetamine addiction should be comprehended. Medically methamphetamine was developed for the treatment of nasal blockages and clearance of bronchioles in the lungs. Lately it has been used in low dosages for the treatment of concern deficit hyperactivity disorder and also in weight deprivation programmes but in a controlled manner and prescriptions is ordinarily non refilled. Effects of methamphetamine shift and they mostly depend on the dosage type. For small doses, the drug causes strong and quick addiction, lack of sleep, increased blood pressure, pulses and respiration with de creased reaction times. This effects leads to a desire for more and in large doses, it causes convulsions, overheating of the body, and in more severe cases stroke and even heart attacks. The side effects are grouped into the following major categories (Methamphetamine in Jefferson County, 2008 p 3).Physical effects The most noticeable are muscle weakness, tremors and seizures dental decay, weight loss, anorexia, coughing, dry oral cavity , facial aging, brain damage kidney, heart and liver damage, skin sores and infection and also increased luck of stroke.Cognitive effects This effects lead to decreased ability to recognize and recall words and pictures, make inferences manipulate information, learn from experience and users have the tendency to ignore irrelevant informationPsychological effects These effects are classified into two depending on the duration for short term effects users experience increased sense of euphoria, high potency and increased alertness. Th e users become more talkative, they are not bored easily and have an increased sex drive. Increased confidence Increased alertness Increased right(a) mood Increased. Long term effects include increased aggression, lack of sleep they become over anxious and are confused most of the time. Meth users become moody and they develop psychotic behaviours characterized by false delusions, they become paranoid and become suicidal. When ingested by pregnant women, the methamphetamine dissolves in the blood watercourse and is able to pass through to the fetus. The effects on the unborn children are diverse and so serious since they affect the normal development of the child. The most communal effects are premature child birth and low birth rates for long time users, low birth weight since the mother does not eat enough food due to poor appetite and in most severe cases brain damage. Nutritionally, the baby is disadvantaged since the mother does not perplexity a lot apart from cra ving for the next fix.Mechanisms leading to methamphetamine addiction Addiction to methamphetamine is caused by the drugs pharmacology principally how it is ingested, absorbed in the body, broken in the body and excreted (Otero et al., 2006 p. 4). The pharmacology of the drug is quite a complex process which involves the peripheral and central nervous actions. The drug belongs to the group of drugs known as amphetamines with a structure closely related to that of epinephrine norepinephrine and dopamine (Kish, 2008 p. 2). Due to its structure which is close to that endogenous neurotransmitters the drug is classified as a sympathomimetic drug and as such it interacts with sympathetic receptors of the central nervous system. Specifically, methamphetamine interacts with pre-synaptic receptors and induces effects by competitive antagonisms. at that place are different modes of methamphetamine usage and they determine how long the effects take to kick in and also increase the chances and easiness of addiction. When ingested the effects may take up to twenty minutes to be effected while I snorting the effects set in much quicker as fast as five minutes. The two routes of usage are not so much addictive. Highest rates of addiction have been reported when the route of expenditure was intravenous injection and lung inhalation through smoking. These last two routes potentiate risk of addiction since the drug is absorbed more rapidly in the brain.Effect on the central nervous system The amphetamines potent central nervous system appear as a result of the release of biogenic amines from the core terminals. This enhanced release of norepinephrine results in the anorexia effect of amphetamine and together with release of dopamine it creates a feeling of euphoria. When higher levels of dopamine are released to the mesolimbic system, it results in increased levels of serotonin which is responsible for mental disturbances and the psychotic behaviours. When the high dose of reaches the brain, it leads to a decrease in the levels of dopamine and serotonin and this is achieved through the activity decrease of the enzymes used in their synthesis mainly tyrosine dehydroxylase and tryptophan hydroxylase respectively.The following table shows a list of websites that were visited for the purpose of this researchTitle of report Website Retrival date medicine and behavioral treatments (2004) www.psattc.org11-11-2014Children at clandestine methamphetamine labs Helping meths youngestVictims(2006) www.ojp.usdoj.gov10-11-2014NIDA Community do drugs Alert Bulletin Methamphetamine (n.d.). www.drugabuse.gov10-11-2014Methamphetamine Drug Facts 2005 www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov11-11-2014Parenting Children Who take in Been Exposed to Methamphetamine (n.d) www.orparc.org10-11-2014The sites used for this study are from various government departments, and organizations that carry out various health and substances abuse researches. From the webs ites, they end with either gov. or org. meaning they are reputable websites. Hence, the information obtained from these websites is also reliable and thus they were considered for this paper. In addition, the sources have evidenced based reports where quantitative or qualitative research were used to write the reports thus making the data included in this paper very reliable and viable.Part CData from various website sources on methamphetamine and journals published online was used to come up with this report.Table display the various side effects for methamphetamine usersPhysical effects Cognitive side effects Short term psychological effects Long term psychological effectsWeight loss Failure to recall pictures Increased full(a) mood Mood disordersKidney and heart damage Failure to learn from experience Increased alertness Lack of sleep and increased anxiousnessIncreased risk of stroke Decreased ability to make inferences Increased talkativeness Confusion and aggressionSkin sores and infections Decreased ability to manipulate information Increased confidence Increases psychotic behaviourTooth decay Increased sex drive Hallucinations and increased suicidal tendenciesIncreased transmission of HIV due to sharing injecting needles Table showing usage of methamphetamine in terms of age (a 2003 survey on methamphetamine users among college going children and non-college attending children obtained from NSDH, 2005).Ages/ grades utilize at least once Used in the past year Used in the last 30 daysCollege students 5.8% 2.6% 0.6%Young adults(19-28) 8.9% 2.7% 0.7%Table showing use of methamphetamine in regular army (NSDH, 2005 n.p)Used at least once Used in the past year Used in the last 30 days12+ days 4.9% 0.6% 0.2%Table showing use of methamphetamine in school going children (NSDH, 2005 n.p)Grade Used at least once) Used in the past year Used in the last 30 days8th 2.5% 1.5% 0.6%10th 5.3% 3.0% 1.3%12th 6.2% 3.4% 1.4%Part D Comprehensive data obtained from va rious government and non-governmental websites, show that methamphetamine abuse cuts across all ages and affectionate classes with the high-risk groups being people with low self-esteem, social pressure such as weight loss to gain an athletic or modeling body, depression, and those traumatised. While continued abuse leads to addiction, amount and ingestion routes are also determinants with smoking and injection contributing greatly to addiction. Though used medically for nasal and bronchial blockages, its abuse is the main concern due to the resulting side effects and the damages it causes.journal Methamphetamine side effects are as a result of it passing through the brain blood barrier into the brain cells, where its main action is to decrease extracellular monoamine neurotransmitters, especially dopamine, via interfering with their reuptake and promoting their release at the nerve endings (Fleckenstein, et al., 2007 p. 687). Dependency on methamphetamine is a serious issue w ith major medical, psychiatric and social economic impacts in the society (Lapworth, et al., 2009 p. 383). Withdrawal from methamphetamine also results in impaired social functioning, fatigue and aggressiveness and more craving for the drug. This menace affects most people and users should not be alienated but helped to overcome the vice by taking them to rehabilitation centres. While it has been used medically to solve medical conditions such as nasal and bronchial blockages, it misuse is the main problem. Methamphetamine abuse cuts across all ages and social classes with the main contributing factors being low self-esteem, peer pressure, social pressure, depressions and even people suffering from traumas. The resulting side effects vary from person to person but prolonged abuse results to both visible defects such as tooth decay, weak limbs due to poor appetite, damages of organs especially the heart, kidney and liver and also psychological effects. The psychological effects are usually aggressive behaviors which endangers their lives and of those around them and psychotic behaviors which leads them in committing suicide.ReferencesFleckenstein A., E., Volz, T., J., Riddle, E., L., Gibb, J., W., and Hanson, G., R. 2007. New insights into the mechanism of action of amphetamines. Journal of Annual Review in Pharmacology and Toxicology. 47 681698.Kish, S., J. 2008.Pharmacologic mechanisms of crystal Methamphetamine. Journal of Canadian Medical Association, 178 (13)1679-1682.Lapworth, K., Dawe, S., Davis, P., Kavanagh, D., Young, R., Saunders, J. 2009. Impulsivity and positive psychotic symptoms influence hostility in methamphetamine users. Journal of Addictive Behaviours ,34 380385Methamphetamine in Jefferson County. 2008. Methamphetamine in Jefferson County. brain the Impact of Methamphetamine Abuse Issue Paper and RecommendationsNIDA Community Drug Alert Bulletin. n.d. Methamphetamine. www.drugabuse.gov.Office of National Drug Control Policy. 2005. Meth amphetamine. www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov.Otero, C., Boles, S., Young, N. K., & Dennis, K., 2006. Methamphetamine Addiction, Treatment, and Outcomes Implications for Child offbeat Workers. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Center for Substance Abuse TreatmentSubstance abuse department. 2008. National Survey of Drug Use and Health National Findings. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.US Department of Justice. 2004. Children at Clandestine Methamphetamine Laboratories. www.ojp.usdoj.gov.Source scroll