...blood-brain barrier A mechanism that prevents some substances in the blood from reaching the brain. It is achieved by brain capillaries, which unlike other capillaries elsewhere in the body, are composed of endothelial cells sealed together in continuous tight junctions and surrounded by astrocytes that contribute to the selective passage of substances. Lipid-soluble substances such as alcohol, caffeine, nicotine and most anaesthetics, as well as glucose, oxygen and water, pass rapidly into brain cells, whereas proteins, most antibiotics and ions do not enter or enter very slowly. The mechanism protects brain cells against harmful substances and pathogens. See central nervous system. central nervous system (CNS) Etymology: Gk, kentron + L, nervus, nerve; Gk, systema one of the two main divisions of the nervous system, consisting of the brain and the spinal cord. The central nervous system processes information to and from the peripheral nervous system and is the main network of coordination and control for the entire body. The brain controls many functions and sensations, such as sleep, sexual activity, muscular movement, hunger, thirst, memory, and emotions. The spinal cord extends various types of nerve fibers from the brain and acts as a switching and relay terminal for the peripheral nervous system. The 12 pairs of cranial nerves emerge directly from the brain. Sensory nerves and motor nerves of the peripheral system leave the spinal cord separately between the vertebrae...
Words: 2041 - Pages: 9
...DRUGS AND ALCOHOL Introduction The use and misuse of alcohol and other non-prescription drugs is one of the more controversial issues in our society, and often a source of conflict between generations and between sections of society. It’s not the purpose of this page – or of the NTU student counselling service – to tell people how to behave or to seek to label them as alcohol or drug abusers. However alcohol and other drugs are powerful substances with a potential to harm users; we would encourage people to take care of themselves when considering using them and to avoid taking any risks which they might regret later. No universal classifications ignore the fact that significant alcohol and drug use is an accepted part of many social groups. What is seen as risky or inappropriate behaviour by one group is accepted as normal by another. Use of drink and drugs can be classified as – 1. Abstinent – no use is made 2. Controlled – people have made a conscious decision have evaluated the risks and can stop if they want. 3. Impulsive – use is unpredictable and can lead to unexpected accidents and harm. However this is not continual or dependent use. 4. Habitual – the use of alcohol or drugs have become a significant and important part of the person’s lifestyle. Stopping would not be easy. 5. Dependent – there is a high degree of physical and psychological addiction. Alcohol and drug use disrupts or rules the person’s life. Stopping is not possible without considerable support...
Words: 3956 - Pages: 16
...How Drugs and Alcohol Affect the Mind and Body Drug and alcohol abuse can have very devastating effects on the user. It can affect you mentally and physically, and if continued can even lead to death. I’m here to explain all the ways that drugs and alcohol affect you. Many people believe that since prescription pills and alcohol are “legal†that their safe. That would be nice, if only it were true. First, I’m going to tell you how alcohol affects the mind. It all depends on three things, how much does that person consume, how often that person consumes it, and how long have they been drinking. Some of the short-term effects of drinking are: Slurred speech, and slowed reaction times. The long-term effects are: Permanent brain damage, and a life-threatening brain disorder called hepatic encephalopathy. This disorder can cause changes in sleep patterns, mood and personality, have psychiatric implications like developing anxiety and depression , severe cognitive effects like shortened attention span and problems with coordination like shaking hands. Next, I’ll talk about how alcohol affects the body. One of the big effects that almost everybody knows is liver damage. But what most people don’t know is that prolonged liver dysfunction as a result of chronic alcohol abuse can harm the brain and leads to the potentially life-threatening brain disorder that I was talking about in the last paragraph. It can also cause heart problems, pancreas, and can cause...
Words: 537 - Pages: 3
...Substance abuse Alcohol-related traffic deaths in the US were 12,998 in 2007. This is more than three times as many American soldiers who died in combat in the first six years of the Iraq war. Substance abuse is a huge problem in America and many other countries as well. Substance abuse not only refers to alcohol it can also have to do with drugs. Youth who drink are 7.5 times more likely to use other illegal drugs and fifty times more likely to use cocaine than young people who never drink. Now how does marijuana use affect your school, work, and social life? Because marijuana impairs short-term memory and judgment and distorts perception, it can impair performance in school or at work and make it dangerous to drive an automobile. It also affects brain systems that are still maturing through young adulthood, so regular use by teens may have a negative and long-lasting effect on their cognitive development, putting them at a competitive disadvantage and possibly interfering with their well-being in other ways. Also, contrary to popular belief, marijuana can be addictive, and its use during adolescence may make other forms of drug abuse or addiction more likely. Exposure to cannabinoids during adolescent development can cause long-lasting changes in the brain’s reward system as well as the hippocampus, a brain area critical for learning and memory. Regular marijuana use in adolescence is part of a cluster of behaviors that can produce enduring detrimental effects and alter the...
Words: 1097 - Pages: 5
...that is always of popular demand at a party or club is alcohol. Beer, cocktails, shots of vodka are all things that adults (and sometimes not adults) drink to have a good time. While it may have a temporary effect on the consumer, they will most likely soon after discover that those ten shots of whiskey were not a good idea. Alcohol and its abuse can affect the user, their brain and the people around them. Chemistry being considered, the brain is strongly affected by alcohol abusers and frequent drinkers. When someone speaks of drugs and drug use, alcohol may not be the first substance to come to mind. It is a very strong drug indeed....
Words: 1075 - Pages: 5
...Alcohol as among the drugs that are been abused in large number and has become a major ill in our society. Alcohol destroys the lives of their victims in many ways. Alcoholism is the later stage after been addicted to alcohol but it can be recovered but it needs self discipline. Contents: Page: 1. Introduction……………………………………………………………. 3 1.1. Definition of alcohol…………………………………………………. 3 2.0. Effects of alcohol…………………………………………………….. 3 2.1. Healthy effects of alcohol……………………………………………. 4 2.2. Social effects of alcohol……………………………………………… 4 3.0. Alcoholism…………………………………………………………… 5 4.0. Causes of Alcoholism………………………………………………... 5 4.1. Social and Emotional causes of Alcoholism………………………… 6 5.0. Ways to recover from Alcoholism…………………………………… 6 6.0. Conclusion…………………………………………………………… 7 INTRODUCTION Drug abuse is an intense desire to obtain increasing amounts of a particular substance or substances to the exclusion of all other activities. According to WHO “Drug abuse has become a major ill in our society; it destroys the lives of their victims in many ways because these chemical substances are not intended to be introduced into the human body and as a result weakens the body system for instance the heart, lungs, liver, kidneys and brain are often damaged by heavy drug use and all of these organs are vital for life. Due to the broad case with drugs, I have chosen alcohol as an example of drugs been abused in the society. What is alcohol? According to Buddy. T...
Words: 1548 - Pages: 7
...EFFECTS OF UNDER AGE DRINKING AND DRUG ABUSE TO THE BRAIN Paul Were ENG110 Instructor: Luciano Proposing a Solution 10/06/2012 Under age drinking and drug abuse is a very serious issue. Many of the students in our communities are consuming alcohol in alarmingly high quantities and at equally alarming frequencies. On average, at least a certain percentage of young people report or admit having used drugs once in their lifetime. Tobacco is often the first drug young people use, if they choose to use alcohol and illegal drugs. Teens claim to do this when they are upset, alone or bored. For many, alcohol consumption and drug abuse among young people has gone well beyond the occasional rite-of-passage levels their parents may have experienced. Because it is a neurotoxin chemical, alcohol consumption and drug abuse by students is not only affecting their academic performance but also their social behavior. Manifesting itself well before these students finish high school, drug and chemical dependency is an issue that cuts across all social-economic boundaries and leads to serious ramifications for teens and young adults. There is a need to educate parents and teens to reduce the severity of the problem and give our young people a chance for a productive future life. Drug use in adolescence is a very high risk causing permanent changes to the brain, brain injury, directly or indirectly, as well as chronic changes. Brain damage or acquired brain injury is the destruction...
Words: 1454 - Pages: 6
...people smoke or have smoked marijuana. The reasons may range from extracurricular drug use medicinal uses and anywhere in between. The positive effects medical research states marijuana can assist with cancer patients and terminally ill individuals, but only for pain reduction and appetite increases. In the case of glaucoma the pressure from the eyeballs are reduced by the blood flow changing with the effects of THC. While there may be some positive effects for use of marijuana, the negative effects outweigh positives effects. It is a known fact that marijuana has more tar in the leaf than tobacco accompanied with the mind altering affects of THC in the blood stream are enough to make anyone want to avoid the life altering risks. Marijuana is also know as a gateway drug. Legalizing marijuana would not be as beneficial as some may believe. For those individuals who may still be undecided on whether to support the legalization of marijuana or not, below are a few key points to aid in their decision making. While some suggest the benefits of marijuana outweigh the negative, not enough research has been conducted to determine this. The immediate and long term effect could be substantially dreadful. Some of the immediate effects of marijuana are hallucinations, paranoia, and psychotic episodes. Also, stimulant psychosis may also occur in some individuals. While stimulant psychosis mostly appears in drug users who take large doses, in rare cases, it may also appear in patients taking...
Words: 2064 - Pages: 9
...chronic, relapsing brain disease that is characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use, despite harmful consequences” (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2014, p.1). Addiction can be several things, two well-known addictions are drinking and doing drug. When addiction starts to change the brain it leads to long terms affects which is usually abuse. Adolescents can and will go a little further with abuse by adding things like pill popping and smoking. “Many adolescents who abuse drugs have a history of physical, emotional, and/or sexual abuse or other trauma” (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2014, p.2). Abuse begins when adolescents start to do things like steal and lie to friends and family members to get what it is they want. How does abuse or addiction affect the developing brain of an adolescent? Drug abuse can cause serious progressive problems within the adolescent brain.”Memory loss, ability to concentrate, motor skills and coping skills are all affected by drug and alcohol abuse. Adolescents tend to make decisions that are irrational when under influence of drugs and alcohol, they may think they are making the right decisions but they are actually they are doing more harm to themselves then they realized. For adolescents, this can be even more significant as the brain is still developing and changing and any damage to sensitive nerves or brain matter can be permanent” (Alcohol rehab, 2015,p.1). Adolescents when doing things like alcohol tend to make irrational...
Words: 934 - Pages: 4
...Physiology and Psychological Distress of family and friends of an Addict. Vonsha Marshall COM/156 July 7, 2013 University of Phoenix Ms. Roberts Introduction Even though you may not be the person using alcohol or drugs, or violating the law, you can Certainly be a victim of an alcohol or drug-related crime. In fact, millions of people each year are victims of alcohol or drug related crime, including millions of young people. (NCADD, 2013). Generation after generation have suffer from some form of psychological and physical distress dealing with a love one are a close friend whom may have had an alcohol or drug addiction. Ranging from lied to for no reason, stole from or spending our money to bail them out of jail as well as providing transportation to and from different places. Everyone seem to overlook the matter of the physiology and psychology distress that an addict my cause to different individuals as well as family members. People who use drugs and alcohol are often times attempting to numb disturbing emotional and psychological pain that they don't want to feel (Dayton, 2010). Over the years I have witness several friends allow some type of addiction to take over their daily routine. Fighting a battle within a battle, numbing the pain only to be faced with pain again. Living with addiction often results in cumulative trauma that deeply affects family members. When addicts are using they are, for all intents and purposes, out of their minds...
Words: 2050 - Pages: 9
...Addiction is specifically concern with the process by which drug-taking behavior, in certain individuals, evolves into compulsive patterns of drug-seeking and drug-taking behavior that take place at the expense of most other activities and the inability to cease drug-taking. THERE ARE FIVE THEORIES OF ADDICTION NAMELY; * MEDICAL MODEL * PSYCHODYNAMIC MODEL * SOCIAL MODEL * MORAL MODEL * BIO-PSYCHO-SOCIAL MODEL MEDICAL MODEL This involves * Addiction as a “brain disease” * Neurotransmitter imbalance * Disease model: * Agent: drug * Vector: dealers * Host: addict PSYCHODYNAMIC MODEL This involves the following * Drug abusers who are self-medicating * Drug abuse which is a symptom of underlying psychological problems * Drug use is also a maladaptive psychological coping strategy * Drug abusers also need to resolve internal conflict, and when they do, drug use will be unnecessary. SOCIAL MODEL This involves * Drug use as a learned behavior * People using drugs because drug use is modeled by others * Peer pressure * Environmental effects leading to drug use MORAL MODEL * Addicts are usually weak and can overcome a compulsion to use with willpower * Drug abusers are anti-social and should be punished for that * Drug are generally evil BIO-PSYCHO-SOCIAL MODEL * All the above are true, to greater or lesser degrees * Each person’s drug use is a result of some aspects of some or all the other models...
Words: 3596 - Pages: 15
...There are various types of tolerance and two are heroin and alcohol tolerance. Many people after engaging in initial drug use experience a euphoric high and can become quite addicted to that initial high that many spend years chasing the dragon. However, some people become addicted than others experiencing high levels of tolerance. “There is evidence that after prolonged use, heroin is highly addictive. People who use heroin regularly can develop dependence and tolerance to it, which means they need to take larger amounts of heroin to get the same effect”. (NIDA research report series, 2005) Heroin is also an opioid drug and with Heroin, it can be snorted, smoked, injected and inhaled. Once heroin substance is administered the pharmacological route involves crossing the blood brain barrier where the permeability of heroin is ten times higher than morphine. “Once heroin crosses the blood brain barrier, it is hydrolyzed into 6-acetyl morphine and morphine, which then quickly bind to opioid receptors. The “rush” felt by heroin users is the sensation caused by the rapid entry of heroin into the brain and the attachment of 6-acetyl morphine and morphine to opioid receptors. Opioids in general can change the neurochemical activity in the brain stem causing a depression in breathing. In the limbic system opioids cause an increase in feelings of pleasure, and have the ability to block pain signals sent through the spinal cord”. (NIDA research report series, 2005) The physiological...
Words: 741 - Pages: 3
...ALCOHOL AND DRUG ABUSE POLICY 1. This information is provided as an example only. Companies are encouraged to use those portions of the attached draft policy applicable to their own operations, to add information specific to their company, and to confer with drug and alcohol enforcement specialists and/or legal counsel in drafting a policy. 2. The sample policy and procedure are based upon accurate information available at the time it was prepared. 3. This sample is not prepared or intended to meet any particular company's needs. 4. A company alcohol and drug abuse policy may create legal rights or liabilities between the parties involved. 5. Legal advice regarding the development or review of this or any employment policy should be obtained. 6. No one should rely solely upon this sample policy outside its intended purpose without first obtaining the appropriate advice of legal counsel. 7. Notes printed in italics are for carrier's reference in drafting its own policy and should not be contained in a company's final policy. Motor Carrier Safety Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission 1300 S. Evergreen Park Dr. SW P O Box 47250 Olympia, WA 98504-7250 Phone: (360) 664-1232 ALCOHOL AND DRUG ABUSE POLICY STATEMENT OF PURPOSE AND POLICY Drivers are an extremely valuable resource for (insert name of company)_____'s business. Their health and safety is a serious Company concern. Drug or alcohol...
Words: 6433 - Pages: 26
...use of alcohol and illegal drugs is very common around the United States. Although both alcohol and illegal drugs have serious side effects people still use them to gain the feeling of satisfaction during parties, reunions, or any other social event. Both alcohol and illegal drugs cause many damages to our society and the individual. For these reasons alcohol and illegal drug abuse classes should be mandatory at all high schools at some point. Alcohol is a gateway drug in the United States. This means that alcohol can be considered the first step to be involved in any other illegal drug. The abuse of alcohol or drugs has very serious side effects. As any other substance that is taken without a proper control alcohol and drugs can become...
Words: 989 - Pages: 4
...prescription drugs, alcohol, and spice. Marijuana is more beneficial to use than prescription drugs because of the lack of serious side effects. The most common side effects of marijuana are coughing, wheezing, and bronchitis. These side effects are easily taken care of by using a vaporizer or preparing foods with marijuana. Marijuana is less dependable than prescription medication such as pain killers. Prescription medications are now killing more people in the United States than illegal street drugs. Even more importantly the consumption of marijuana cannot result in a fatal overdose. (Medical Marijuana Mall USA, 2013). Someone can’t even take a Tylenol or Aspirin without there being serious side effects to the liver and other organs in the body. Medical marijuana is not lethal, prescription and even non-prescription pills, powders, liquids, and injections are. (Medical Marijuana Project, 2012). A CBS news editorial by Dr. Mitch Earleywine mentions that medical marijuana can be marked cheaper to use than certain prescription drugs. This is especially relevant to patients in chronic pain who do not have medical insurance and need to pay out of pocket to see a doctor for a basic pain killer prescription. While THC, an active ingredient of marijuana, is available and viewed as legal, the FDA approved prescription drug Marinol, medical marijuana is substantially cheaper than Marinol. (Medical Marijuana Mall USA, 2013). A number of prescription drugs are available...
Words: 1989 - Pages: 8
