Drug abuse becomes a dependency when a person has a compulsive need to use drugs without care or regard for the consequences that might occur either bodily or emotionally.

Although the symptoms of drug dependence can be hidden by other problems in a user’s life, there are loads of signs and symptoms to look for to tell if you or someone you love has a drug addiction. The most recognizable sign certainly is your treasured-one’s inability to stop taking the drug. People who are dependant upon drugs feel they can’t go on in life without the help of their drug. They go to great lengths to obtain the drug and use it on a habitual basis.

Addicts also begin to lose their interest in things that they used to like to do. Their whole life is dictated by when and where they can find their next fix. They put aside hobbies, relatives, even work and school. Nothing else is as important as ingesting their drug of selection.

Drug addiction tends to show up in a person’s mood. Are they often either overly up or really down? Mood swings are common with drug dependence as are violent outbursts and irrational behavior.

People with a drug addiction will find themselves behaving in ways they ordinarily would never do without the drug. Physically, the aftereffects of drug addiction will inevitably show in the body over time. They may experience a sudden weight loss and seem emaciated or pale to other people. They forget to groom themselves, such as not showering on a routine basis or taking the time to comb their hair. They may have bodily sores on their body, and their eyes may look dull and disinterested, with a faraway look most of the time.

By the time addiction has really taken hold of a person, the body has become used to having the drug in its system. It develops a tolerance, and thus the user will need to take more of the drug in order to achieve the same result it had before.

The addicted person will inevitably begin engaging in secretive or suspicious behavior, such as disappearing during gatherings or making numerous, superfluous trips just to be by themselves. They can also become emotionally withdrawn from those they were formerly close to. This estrangement makes it easier for them to use drugs without any influence from those around them.

Depression almost always accompanies drug addiction, so look for indicators of hopelessness, negative talk, and withdrawing from all activity. Sudden deviations in work or education performance can also be a sign of addiction. Addicted persons may feel forever weary too, and not want to get out bed - sleeping for long periods of time. This can be a combination of both the effects of the drug and the accompanying sadness.

Drug addiction is a very serious illness, so if you see these symptoms in yourself or someone you love, seek help. The healing has to begin somewhere, and when the symptoms show themselves, the time to get help is now!

Unlike most drugs, the negative health effects of nicotine are only long-term. Even so, the overall cost of nicotine addiction to users and to the community is huge!

Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicate that tobacco use remains the foremost preventable cause of premature death in the United States, causing approximately 440,000 premature fatalities each year and resulting in an annual cost of more than $75 billion in direct medical costs as a result of smoking.

Over the past four decades, cigarette smoking has caused a projected 12 million deaths, including 4.1 million deaths from cancer, 5.5 million deaths from vascular disease, 2.1 million deaths from respiratory disease, and 94,000 infant fatalities related to expectant mothers smoking during pregnancy.

Second-hand smoke, also referred to as environmental tobacco smoke, is a mixture of the smoke given off by the burning end of tobacco products (side stream smoke) and the mainstream smoke exhaled by smokers. It is a complex mixture which contains many chemicals (including formaldehyde, cyanide, carbon monoxide, ammonia, nicotine and other poisons), many of which are known to be carcinogenic.

Non-smokers exposed to secondhand smoke at home or work increase their risk of developing cardio-vascular disease by 25 to 30 percent and lung cancer by 20 to 30 percent. Additionally, secondhand smoke causes lung complications in non-smokers such as coughing, catarrh, and reduced lung functionality.

Children exposed to secondhand smoke are at an increased risk for sudden infant death syndrome, severe lung illness, ear complications, and more serious asthma. Since 1964, 28 Surgeon General’s reports on smoking and health have determined that tobacco use is the single most preventable cause of disease, incapacity, and death in the United States.

In 1988, the Surgeon General resolved that cigarettes and other forms of tobacco, such as cigars, pipe tobacco, and chewing tobacco, are addictive and that nicotine is the drug in tobacco that causes addiction.

Nicotine provides an almost immediate “kick” because it causes a discharge of epinephrine from the adrenal cortex. This stimulates the central nervous system and endocrine glands, which causes a sudden discharge of blood sugar. Stimulation is then followed by depression and exhaustion, leading the user to seek more nicotine.

Nicotine is absorbed easily from tobacco smoke in the lungs, and it does not matter whether the tobacco smoke is from cigarettes, cigars, or pipes. Nicotine also is absorbed instantly when tobacco is chewed. With standard use of tobacco, levels of nicotine accumulate in the body during the day and persist overnight. Thus, everyday smokers or chewers are exposed to the effects of nicotine for 24 hours each day.

Addiction to nicotine end results in withdrawal problems when a person attempts to stop smoking. For example, a study found that when chronic smokers were deprived of cigarettes for 24 hours, they had increased annoyance, hostility, and aggression, and loss of social cooperation. Persons suffering from withdrawal also take longer to reclaim emotional stability following stress. During times of abstinence and/or cravings, smokers have shown deficiencies across a wide array of psychomotor and cognitive functions, such as language comprehension.

Adult females who smoke generally have early menopause. Pregnant women who smoke cigarettes run an increased risk of giving birth to stillborn or premature babies or infants with low natal mass. Children of females who smoked while expecting have an increased risk for developing conduct disorders. National research of mothers and daughters have also found that maternal smoking during pregnancy increased the likelihood that feminine children would smoke and would persist in smoking.

In addition to nicotine, cigarette and cigar smoke is mainly composed of a dozen gases (predominantly carbon monoxide) and tar. The tar in a cigarette, which varies from around 15 mg for a normal strength cigarette to 7 mg in a low-tar cigarette, exposes the user to an increased risk of lung cancer, emphysema, and bronchial problems. The carbon monoxide in tobacco smoke elevates the likelihood of cardiac disease. The Environmental Protection Agency has determined that secondhand smoke causes lung cancer in adults and seriously increases the risk of lung disease in children, along with sudden infant death.

Research has shown that nicotine, like cocaine, heroin, and marijuana, elevates the amount of the neurotransmitter dopamine, which affects the brain pathways that control reward and gratification. Scientists have pinpointed a distinct molecule - the beta 2 (b2) sub-unit of the nicotine cholinergic receptor - as a critical component in nicotine addiction. Mice that lack this subunit fail to self-administer nicotine, implying that without the b2 subunit, the mice do not experience the positive reinforcing properties of nicotine. This finding isolates a potential site for targeting the growth of nicotine addiction treatment.

Other investigations found that individuals have greater opposition to nicotine addiction if they have a genetic irregularity that decreases the function of the enzyme CYP2A6. The decrease in CYP2A6 slows the breakdown of nicotine and protects users against nicotine addiction. Understanding the role of this enzyme in nicotine addiction gives a new target for contracting more effectual treatment to help folks stop smoking. Medications may be developed that can reduce the function of CYP2A6, thus providing a new approach to preventing and treating nicotine addiction. Another study found vast changes in the brain’s pleasure circuits during withdrawal from chronic tobacco use. These changes are comparable in size and length to similar changes documented during withdrawal from other addictive drugs such as cocaine, opiates, amphetamines, and liquor.

Scientists found large decreases in the responsiveness of the intelligence of laboratory rats to gratifying motivation after nicotine administration was abruptly stopped. These changes lasted several days and may relate to the anxiety and melancholy experienced by humans for several days after quitting smoking “cold turkey.”

The results of this research may help in the development of better treatments for the withdrawal problems that may stand in the way of smokers’ efforts to quit.

The misuse and abuse of prescription drugs is rife in our community, most commonly amongst adolescent folks who have little idea of what they are consuming! They use ‘uppers’ to pick themslves up, and ‘downers’ to settle themselves back down, regularly with unexpected, and occasionally deadly, results.

Most folks who take prescription medications use them responsibly. However, the inappropriate or non-medical use of prescription drugs is a serious public health issue. Non-medicinal use of prescription meds like opioids, central nervous system (CNS) depressants, and ‘uppers’ can lead to addiction, characterized by compulsive drug cravings and use.

Patients, healthcare professionals, and pharmacists all have roles to play in preventing ill use and addiction to prescription medicines. Patients ought to read all information furnished by the pharmacist. Nurses should screen for any type of drug abuse during normal history-taking, with questions concerning which prescriptions and over-the-counter (OTC) medications the patient is taking and why, and must note any rapid increases in the amount of a medication needed or recurrent requests for refills before the quantity prescribed must have been used, as these may be symptoms of abuse.

While many prescription drugs can be abused or misused, these three classes are most commonly abused:

* Opioids - repeatedly intended to treat pain.

* CNS Depressants - used to treat anxiety and sleep disorders.

* Stimulants - prescribed to treat narcolepsy and attention-deficit disorder.

Opioids

Optoids are commonly intended because of their helpful analgesic properties. Studies have shown that appropriately managed medical use of opioid painkilling compounds is safe and rarely results in addiction.

Taken exactly as directed, opioids can be used to control pain successfully. Among the compounds that fall within this class - sometimes referred to as narcotics - are morphine, codeine, and related medicines.

Morphine is regularly used before or after surgery to alleviate severe pain. Codeine is used for milder pain.

Opioids act by attaching to particular proteins termed opioid receptors, which are set up in the brain, spinal cord, and gastrointestinal tract. When these compounds attach to particular opioid receptors in the brain and spinal cord, they can efficiently change the way a person experiences pain.

In addition, opioid medications can influence regions of the brain that arbitrate what we perceive as satisfaction, resulting in the initial euphoria that many opioids produce. They can also have the effect of producing tiredness, result in constipation, and, depending upon the quantity taken, depress breathing. Taking a sizable single dose may very well be a cause of severe respiratory depression or even death!

Opioids may interact with other meds and are only safe to use with other medicines under a general practitioner’s regulation. Typically, they should not be used with substances such as alcohol, antihistamines, barbiturates, or benzodiazepines.

Since these drugs slow breathing, their combined results may lead to life-threatening respiratory failure. Long-term use also can lead to physical dependence, where the body gets used to the existence of the substance and withdrawal side effects occur if use is reduced abruptly. These indicators can include ‘tolerance’, which means that greater doses of a medication must be taken to achieve the same initial effects.

Central CNS depressants slow normal brain function. In higher doses, some depressants can become general anesthetics. Tranquilizers and sedatives are instances of CNS depressants.

Central CNS depressants slow normal brain activity. In higher doses, some ‘downers’ can become general anesthetics. Tranquilizers and sedatives are instances of CNS depressants.

CNS depressants can be divided into two groups, based on their chemistry and pharmacology: Barbiturates, such as mephobarbital (Mebaral) and pentobarbitalsodium (Nembutal), which are used to treat anxiety, tension, and sleep problems. Benzodiazepines, such as diazepam (Valium), chlordiazepoxide HCl (Librium), and alprazolam (Xanax), which can be prescribed to treat anxiety, severe stress responses, and panic attacks.

There are many CNS depressants, and most act on the brain similarly - they affect the neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). Neurotransmitters are brain chemicals that assist communication between brain cells. GABA works by decreasing brain activity.

Although different types of depressants work in particular ways, ultimately it is their capability to escalate GABA activity that yields a sleepy or calming result. Despite these positive results for folk suffering nervousness or sleep problems, barbiturates and benzodiazepines can be addictive and must be used only as prescribed.

CNS depressants should not be combined with any medication or substance that causes sleepiness, including prescription pain medicines, specific OTC cold and hypersensitivity medications, or alcohol. If combined, they can slow breathing, or slow both the heart and respiration, which can be lethal.

Discontinuing protracted use of high amounts of CNS depressants can lead to withdrawal. Because they work by slowing the brain’s activity, a potential outcome of abuse is that when one stops consuming a CNS depressant, the brain’s activity can rebound to the point that seizures can ensue. Someone thinking about ending their use of a CNS depressant, or who has stopped and is afflicted by withdrawal, must talk with a physician and seek medical treatment.

Stimulants intensify alertness, attentiveness, and energy, which are accompanied by increases in blood pressure, pulse rate, and respiration. Historically, stimulants were used to treat asthma and other lung difficulties, obesity, neurological problems, and a collection of other ailments.

Stimulants intensify alertness, responsiveness, and energy, which are accompanied by increases in blood pressure, pulse rate, and inhalation. Historically, ‘uppers’ were used to treat asthma and other lung problems, overweightness, neurological problems, and a selection of other problems.

As their potential for abuse and addiction became obvious, the use of stimulants started to wane. Now, ‘uppers’ are prescribed for managing only a few health conditions, including narcolepsy, attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and depression that has not responded to other treatments. Stimulants may also be used for short-term management of obesity and for persons with asthma.

Research indicates that people with ADHD do not become addicted to stimulant drugs, such as Ritalin, when taken in the form and dosage directed. However, when abused, ‘uppers’ can be habit forming.

Research shows that folks with ADHD do not become dependent to stimulant medications, such as Ritalin, when taken in the form and dosage prescribed. However, when ill-used, stimulants can be addictive.

The end results of stimulant abuse can be extremely dangerous. Taking high amounts of a stimulant can result in an uneven heartbeat, dangerously high body temperatures, and/or the potential for cardiovascular failure or fits. Taking high doses of some stimulants repeatedly over a short period of time can lead to hostility or feelings of paranoia in some individuals.

Stimulants must not be blended with antidepressants or OTC cold drugs containing decongestants. Antidepressants may improve the effects of a stimulant, and ‘uppers’ in combination with decongestants may cause blood pressure to become perilously high or lead to irregular heart rate.

Treatment of addiction to prescription stimulants, such as methylphenidate and amphetamines, is based on behavior therapies that have confirmed effective for managing cocaine or methamphetamine addiction. At this time, there is no one proven medication used for the management of stimulant addiction. Antidepressants, nonetheless, may be used to manage the symptoms of depression that can accompany initial abstinence from ‘uppers’.