Community/Health/Uncategorized

Drug Addiction and Its Effects on the Brain.

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what is an Addiction?
We all have something we say we are addicted to, jokingly sometimes we say we are addicted to certain foods, behaviors, hobbies or even a person. We use the word “addicted” jokingly but are we really addicted? An addiction is when someone has difficulties stopping a certain behavior, for instance, smoking, drinking, and drug use. There are so many types of addiction but today we will mostly talk about drug addiction and how it affects the brain. (see other types of addiction here)https://www.addictioncenter.com/addiction/10-most-common-addictions/
drugs come in various forms
What qualifies a person as an addict?
In order to qualify as an addict, one must meet at least 3 criteria on the DSM- IV (criteria of the American Psychiatric Association)

  1. Tolerance – The need to use drugs for long periods of time
  2. Withdrawals – experiencing shaking, sweats, vomiting, anxiety or irritation when stopped using?
  3. Limited control – Need to use drugs at all times, using more than you need.
  4. Neglected or postponed activities – skipped work or school because of use
  5. Desire to cut down – thoughts about cutting down on how much you are using?

Why do people get addicted?
Drug users become addicted because drugs will stimulate the pleasure center of the brain through neurotransmitters such as dopamine and GABA

What does drug abuse do to the brain?
Research evidence show:

  • That continued drug use impairs brain function by interfering with the capacity to self- control over drug-taking behaviors and rendering the brain more sensitive to stress and negative moods.
  • Drugs also modulate the expression of genes involved in neuroplasticity (the ability of the brain to form and reorganize synaptic connections) meaning not allowing neuroplasticity to take place. (Learn more about neuroplasticity here) https://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=40362
  • Drugs also affect other parts of the brain that play critical roles in the functioning of other parts of the body.
    1. They affect the limbic system, which is linked to a number of brain structures which control and regulate the ability to feel pleasure.
    2. The brain stem, which plays role in breathing, heart rate regulation and sleep.
    3. The cerebral cortex, especially the frontal cortex which aides in thinking, ability to solve problems and make decisions. Other parts of the cerebral cortex play role in enabling sight, feeling, and tasting.

 

dopamine levels decrease over time

Overtime if a parson continues using and abusing drugs, numbers of receptors that help in signaling are reduced hence reduction of dopamine as well and when dopamine is at low levels in the brain, a person loses their ability to experience pleasure.

If you or a loved one suffers from addiction please call SAMHSA’s National Helpline, 1-800-662-HELP (4357) or 1-877-751-1806 or visit the websites below 
https://drugabuse.com/library/drug-abuse-hotlines/  https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/national-helpline

Uncategorized

Why Don’t You Just Kick That Addiction?

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Many of us have been affected by addiction, directly or indirectly. From alcoholism, to opioid addiction, or even eating addictions! But so many people don’t how addiction works.
 
Well how does it work?
 
The brain is a powerful organ but has its flaws. The brain uses chemicals to tell our bodies different things. Some of those chemicals you might be familiar with:

  • Acetylcholine– for movement
  • Serotonin– inhibitory/ “sleep”
  • Dopamine– excitatory/ “happiness

 
Different activities trigger different chemicals causing us to move, feel happy, feel  excited, or help us go to sleep.
 
Naturally our brains have a reward system in place. You do something good, you get a reward. The brain keeps a tally of what feels good and what feels bad.
 
For example: you go exercise, you feel happy and lower your stress levels, your brain will remember that and want more of it.
 
But this method has its flaws. Drugs or natural stimuli can have similar reactions in the brain. Taking a hard drug or having sex can cause a similar excitatory reaction in our brain by releasing a large amount of dopamine giving the brain a memory that indicates the good feeling. If the brain gets used to this large surge of dopamine it will constantly want more.
 
Here is where addiction comes in. Once the brain has felt that increase of dopamine, it will ask for more and more to reach that reward system boost needed. The problem is when the behavior is continuous and the person abuses the drug or natural stimulus because their brain needs more.
 
If that’s how addiction starts, why can’t we just stop it?
 
Well a lot of research has shown that the frontal lobe gets affected by addiction (that is to drugs, sex, or even something as simple as eating). The size of the frontal lobe decreases with addiction causing that constant need of a dopamine surge. For the brain to operate correctly, it needs to have a balance of dopamine. When the frontal lobe is lacking, it throws off the balance and causes the brain’s need for more dopamine.
 
So why can’t you just kick that addiction and get a job? Well it’s not your fault that you can’t easily quit it. In my opinion the systems we have in place currently to help people with addiction are not working.
 
In my opinion
 
I can’t see how anyone can just go in for a month of treatment and walk out saying they are done. Their brain will not let them because of that constant crave. I believe that there should be more of a personalized approach to this problem.
People need constant attention to kick this addiction and to have someone ready to help in moments of weakness not judge them. I think that the public needs to learn the problem behind addiction and to move towards a solution that focuses on the person within the addiction, not the addiction itself.

 

Uncategorized

One Incident Can Change Everything

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Cocaine and Methamphetamine are two stimulant drugs that we know to be highly addictive. These drugs both have terrible physical, emotional and psychological effects on users, including stroke, heart damage, aggressive behavior and decreased cognitive function. Symptoms of these drugs may be commonly known; however, the general public does not understand the science behind drug addiction.
 
What is dopamine?
Dopamine is the neurotransmitter that is responsible for signaling the reward pathway in the brain. Dopamine release is triggered by cues that predict reward (smelling fried chicken), and causes anticipation of the reward (eating fried chicken). If the reward (the fried chicken) does not appear, then the dopamine cell stops firing, and the reward (the feeling of eating delicious food) isn’t experienced.
 
Dopamine pathway in the brain
Dopamine neurons are located in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) of the brain, and they release dopamine into the nucleus accumbens (NAc). This pathway plays a significant role in the processing of reward-related stimuli, especially those associated with drugs of abuse.
 
How dopamine works to produce a high
When the brain is exposed to a drug of abuse, there is a quick and intense surge of dopamine released from the VTA. This overabundance of dopamine travels to the NAc and binds to the D1 and D2 dopamine receptors, causing maximum reward.
 
How are drugs different than food or sex?
For natural reinforcers such as food or sex, the dopamine signals will drive the motivation to get the reward. When the reward appears, the dopamine cells will stop firing, and the anticipation of reward goes away. This works very differently however when dealing with drugs of abuse. Due to their pharmacological properties, the drugs continue increasing dopamine release during their consumption.
 
How does this affect drug usage?
Since drugs cause the continual release of dopamine, the desire to take the drugs upon exposure to cues is increased, as well as the motivation to continue consuming them during use.
 
How does repeated exposure affect the brain?
As these stimulants are taken more often, the “high” is reduced, but the motivation to continue to take the drug is undiminished. The quantity of D2 dopamine receptors in the NAc is reduced, and this change contributes to tolerance. High drug doses cause the dopamine pathways to become stronger and more developed, therefore increasing the brain’s reactivity to drugs and drug cues.
Long-lasting memory of the drug’s rewarding and conditioning effects will modify behaviors. The neurons will grow and create bigger synapses, resulting in stronger connections and cues/triggers for drug use. The number of dopamine receptors will be decreased, leading to impulsivity, which can predict increasing and compulsive administration of stimulants. This also results in a lack of self-control and the inability to feel satisfied.
 
The conflict between the “highs” and the lows
Addicts experience cognitive dissonance because they know the drugs are terrible for them, but they feel so good when they are high, which they don’t want to lose. It is very challenging to quit because the circuitry of their brain has changed and they cannot control their cravings or impulsive behaviors.
 
Society’s view on drug addicts
It seems as though society lacks sympathy for addicts, but to what extent is it their fault? They made the choice to use drugs in the first place, but it led to a downward spiral that they never expected and can’t escape. The brain can undergo extreme irreversible changes after just one exposure, and this is something that many may not realize until it is too late.
 
Options for addicts
Treatment plans can help addicts improve, and there are oral prescriptions that can be taken to reduce cravings, but extreme steps and lifestyle changes must be made if an addict is to truly recover and avoid relapse. The difficult part about preventing relapse is that it usually requires a complete lifestyle change. The cues that trigger drug cravings must be removed, and if these cues include certain friends or a home environment, the changes required would be pretty drastic.
In recognizing just how scary, complex, and difficult drug addiction can be, it is truly in one’s best interest to stay away from drugs and avoid the chance of becoming addicted.
 
For more information on the brain on drugs, please visit https://moodle.cord.edu/pluginfile.php/642483/mod_resource/content/0/the%20brain%20on%20drugs%202015.pdf
 
To learn more about the dopamine pathway in the brain, view this following video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=7&v=YzCYuKX6zp8
 
 

Disease/Health

Dopamine: The Brain’s Pleasure Drug

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When we think of drugs, we often think of the adverse effects that can be observed from the outside. Yellow teeth, saggy skin, hair loss are all common signs that someone is using drugs. But there is a lot that is happening that can’t be visibly observed.
Drug use changes your brain. From the very first time, to all subsequent uses, drugs are modifying the chemicals in your brain. But how do drugs actually do this?
Your brain has natural reward mechanisms. These mechanisms control the reward you feel in response to food, sex, or even just performing an activity you enjoy. The reward in your brain is a chemical called Dopamine. It is released from one brain cell to another during a pleasurable sensation to signal that you should feel pleasure.

Dopamine is released in greater amounts when affected by drug vs. natural reward.

When your brain releases dopamine, it binds to two different receptors in your brain. The first receptor, the D1 receptor causes the pleasurable sensation. The other receptor, the D2 receptor causes inhibition of aversive stimuli. It is when these two receptors are out of balance that addiction occurs.
The longer that a drug stays attached to the receptor can also control how addicting the substance is. For natural reinforces, dopamine is only released for a short amount of time, but for drugs, dopamine is released for long periods of time. This floods the dopamine receptors with molecules that they need to bind to. Thus, drugs cause a longer change in your brain than natural reinforcers do.
With subsequent use of drugs, your brain adjusts to produce more and larger receptors. Instead of binding to the pleasurable receptors, the drug binds to the D2 receptors and this causes the feeling of craving that follows.
The brain region dopamine is released in is called the nucleus accumbens. This region of the brain is responsible for cognitive processing of reward, punishment, and motivation. It is important to understand the role that the nucleus accumbens plays in addiction because it is in charge of the motivation to repeatedly take drugs.
Drugs change your brain. That is a very scary statement and one that shouldn’t be taken lightly. This is why it is important to tell people the serious consequences of using drugs before they begin using them. It’s easy to change our brain using drugs, but very very hard to change it back.
 
Image from National Institute on Drug Abuse
For more information on how specific drugs effect the brain click here
Information for this blog found in Cell 

Disease/Health

Addiction: How Drugs Change Lives

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From the media to movies to music, drugs are stigmatized as harmless and fun to do. It seems like every time I turn around a new celebrity is getting arrested for drug related incidents. There is always a new song being produced that promotes a lifestyle that involves always being high off of drugs. These are the sorts of things that are seen in day to day life, and children are being exposed to it at younger and younger ages.

 My Experience and Education on Addictions:

Though I have personally never tried drugs, I have seen various friends and family members lives change because of them. I have seen how fast drug use can change someone’s personality, and I have experienced how hard it is to stick around in said person’s life. Addictions not only affect those who are addicted, but everyone around them as well. A book entitled Beautiful Boy written by David Sheff, talks about his (Sheff) own son’s methamphetamine addiction. In the book he not only talks about how the addiction developed, but what it was like as a parent of an addict. Sheff explains how he blames himself for his sons addiction and how him and his wife getting divorced (many years before the addiction started) is the reason why it occurred. This is a true story, and it is true for many families of loved ones that have an addiction. Taking the blame for another persons mistake and asking questions like “why did I not see this sooner” or “how could I have prevented this” are not uncommon thoughts.
One thing that friends and family members of an addict don’t realize is that the addiction is an actual mental illness. Addictions can change the physiological and anatomical aspects of the brain, making it harder to overcome said addiction. 
 

The High

There are many different factors that go into how someone becomes addicted to drugs. The dopamine reward circuit plays a big role in the formation of addictions. When a drug is administered, dopamine (a neurotransmitter in the brain) is released which causes that “feel good” affect of the high. In regards to addictions, the dopamine receptors D1 and D2 come into play. When the D1 receptors are activated, this turns on the direct striatal pathway which is associated with reward and reinforcement. These receptors become more prevalent in the brain during addiction.
D2 receptors, when activated, turn on the indirect striatal pathway which is associated with punishment. In the addicted brain, there are fewer D2 receptors, which results in a increase of DA (decrease in dopamine inhibition of the pathway). These two receptor types are not independently controlled, if one is activated the other is inhibited. Since there is a decreased amount of D2 receptors in the addicted brain, there is an imbalance between the two pathways. This imbalance is said to be what causes the behavioral changes that are associated with addiction. This is just one way that the brain changes during addiction.
As someone takes a drug more frequently, soon there body will get used to the levels of dopamine that are being released and they will no longer feel that “high”. This causes them to take higher doses of the drug, these higher doses will result in the release of even more dopamine, therefore giving them that same high they felt with the lower dose previously. This need to increase a dose of a drug means that they have developed a tolerance. Overtime, this new dose will stop producing that high and will require another increase in dose. This tolerance will slowly occur for each dose that the addict uses, causing them to take harmful quantities of a drug in the long run.

Another factor that goes into changing the brain, is the different cues that are associated with the drug. If someone takes the drug in the same environment or around the same time of the day, they will slowly form memories of the drug use and associate it with those cues. Through forming these memories, when that person is in that environment or it gets to be that certain time of the day, they will start to crave the drug. That crave is triggered by those cues (the environment or time of day). These memories strengthen over time, and are essientally permanently embedded in the brain. This makes it hard to withdraw from drug use, because all of these different cues will continue to cause that crave feeling. If that crave is not satisfied, withdrawal symptoms will set in and people will take the drug to avoid those symptoms.
Overall, drug addictions change so many different aspects of someones life and they are extremely hard to overcome. By becoming more empathetic to addictions, it will be easier to understand and help those dealing with one. If you would like to read more on the topic click on one of the links below and you will be brought to other articles. Also, check out the book Beautiful Boy, it is a quick and interesting read. This book will help provide a better perspective on the social implications of addictions like how it affects family members, and how society deals with it.

Links to other readings:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003JTHWLE/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1 (Beautiful Boy)
https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/understanding-drug-use-addiction
http://www.apa.org/topics/addiction/
https://www.helpguide.org/harvard/how-addiction-hijacks-the-brain.htm

Sources used:

Volkowab1, N. D., Wangc, G., Fowlerc, J. S., & Tomasib, A. D. (n.d.). Addiction: Beyond dopamine reward circuitry. Retrieved October 10, 2017, from http://www.pnas.org/content/108/37/15037.full
Volkow, N. D., & Morales, M. (2015). The Brain on Drugs: From Reward to Addiction [Review].

Disease/Health

Drugs Are Not for Everyone.

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Addiction is very popular topic in today’s society, whether it be deemed a routinely behavior, or a recreational substance abuse. Both of which are not so different in terms of brain chemistry, with one being the more extreme of the other, But at which point is it a necessity instead of voluntary? Here are the facts behind both arguments.
Continue reading →

Hot topics

No One Is Immune to Addiction

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How many of us remember sitting through the D.A.R.E program in school? Officers would come in and talk about the dangers of drug use and show photos of meth addicts, that to be honest, gave me nightmares for days afterwards. You’d be given the same lecture about drugs and alcohol in seventh grade health class. At that age, addicts were portrayed as being low class criminals. Reality teaches us that addiction does not care about whether you are below poverty lines or in the top 1%, nor does it care if you’re a good or bad person. Any person can become an addict. Are there genetic predispositions and environmental factors that increase your risk of developing addiction? Of course. But no one’s risk level is zero.
 
 
Also, often times, we associate heavy drug usage with big cities like LA, New York, and Chicago, or in areas along the coasts. Because of this, it’s easy to think that the Midwest doesn’t have issues with drugs and addiction, but unfortunately that isn’t the case. Dreamland is book written by Sam Quinones that lays out how black tar heroin made its way to lesser known regions and basically infiltrated the Midwest. It can be hard to wrap one’s brain around the idea that drugs are everywhere in the United States
 
 
As I mentioned before, as kids, we warned against using drugs and alcohol, mainly through scare tactics. However, not once was I told the science of why they were bad or the changes that they made to the brain (besides the ever-common remark, “kills brain cells”).
 
 

The Science of Addiction:

 
In our brains, there is a neurotransmitter known as dopamine, that is highly associated with our feelings of pleasure. Dopamine has two types of receptors, D1 and D2. D1 is linked to our “reward pathway” and creates those good feelings. D2, on the other hand, is linked to our “punishment pathway”. When a drug is consumed, it increases the release of dopamine in the brain. Dopamine will then bind to its receptors and will activate them. When D1 is activated, it turns on the reward pathway and when D2 is activated, the punishment pathway is shut off and so we have strong levels of pleasure from the drug.
 
During all of this, our brains are forming memories that associate the drug with those feelings of pleasure, known as cues. And so, when we encounter these cues our brain remembers taking the drug and we have signs of cravings. These memories cause changes to our brain that appear to be long-term and as of now, researchers have not figured out how to reverse these changes.
 
 
Featured Photo by: notbychanceinc

Community/Disease/Health/Hot topics

The Drug Chokehold

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We live in a society filled with education including mathematics, grammar, physical health, etc. but further, our society teaches the young population about the negative effects involved in drug and alcohol abuse. We even go as far as to offer classes and information for parents so they can be better informed about the negativities involved in drug abuse and how to help prevent their children from doing drugs. However, there is a still a large population involved in drug abuse in our society. And despite the intensely devastating lifestyles these people live, they are still doing drugs. As a society we are left with some questions.
How does drug use take control over people’s lives despite the negative consequences?
First, let’s discuss the physical process behind drug addiction because it is quite important in understanding the motives of drug abusers.
A Biological Perspective of Drug Addiction
Step one: Take any addictive drug of choice (i.e. alcohol, opioids, methamphetamines) and experience the brain’s reaction.
Step two: The brain’s initial reaction to drugs involves a large amount of dopamine produced in the ventral tegmental area (VTA), simply a region in the brain, and released in a different region of the brain, the nucleus accumbens (NAc). The NAc is an important region of the brain because it contains the dopamine receptors necessary to produce a reaction. There are two types of receptors dopamine binds, D1 and D2. When dopamine binds D1, a direct pathway is activated and initiates reward sensations in the brain. When dopamine binds D2, an indirect pathway is inhibited and stops punishment or pain sensations in the brain. This means maximal reward is occurring in the brain and on the street is called a “high.”
Step three: The brain begins to physically change after prolonged use and sometimes even after the first drug use. The neurons and connections in your brain begin to morph into a drug addicted pathway (spines, larger surface areas for reception, etc.) and stay like that even after drug use stops. Therefore, relapse is something that is inevitable, not for the lack of trying. Some of the changes that occur in the brain cause the body to 1. react to certain cues in everyday life that trigger drug use by increasing dopamine in the brain, 2. reduced sensitivity to non-drug rewards, and 3. spine growth on dendrites of neurons in the brain, creating a size and shape change (not good).
What Does This Mean?
Drug addiction is a serious mental health issue that is not a matter of choice because the brain physically cannot choose anything but the drug. The brain has been physically morphed and takes a lifetime, if ever, to change back to normal. When someone breaks a bone, we do not expect them to walk or move normally because they have been physically changed. Well, the same goes for drug addiction. Therefore, drug addicts experience a “chokehold” and must tap out – revert to drug abuse over and over again.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0092867415009629

Health

Scare Tactics or Science Talk: Different Approaches to Drug Education

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My Drug Education Experience

I have always operated under the motto of “Drugs are bad”. But it wasn’t until a recent paper discussion in neurochemistry that I began to understand the science behind addiction. I recall taking a health class in school that had a unit on drugs and alcohol. We watched the typical videos about people overdosing, driving under the influence, and were given graphic details on side-effects and. I received the simple message that drugs were bad because they would ruin your life.
Scare tactics like these work for some people. They certainly worked for me. However, not all students take the information pushed on them in school to heart. Some people experiment in high school or college. Maybe they go to a party and there are drugs present and it seems like no big deal. Perhaps drugs are common and easily available at home. For some, scare tactics fall short because drugs are part of the normal environment. So how can they be reached?

Parental Involvement

My parents are a big influence as to why I do not partake in illegal substance use. I have a good relationship with my parents for which I am thankful for. I know not everyone has the best relationships with their parents and not all parents have the much-needed talks with their children surrounding drugs or alcohol. My parents never explicitly sat me down to talk about drugs, but I simply knew they’d be disappointed if I started to use illegal substances. My mom made it clear that I could always use her as an excuse to say no to anything I didn’t want to do.
As I have gone through my undergrad years, developing my own personal values and beliefs, I have given some thought to what I may tell my kids (if that is in my future) surrounding the topic of drugs and alcohol. Some parents take the strict end of the spectrum and say absolutely no to even thinking about using drugs or alcohol. That may lead to children who don’t feel comfortable coming to their parents if they need help and kids that end up sneaking around behind their parents’ backs. Other parents go the other extreme and act more like friends to their kids giving them the sense that whatever they do is fine and they will even join them.
My parents landed in a happy medium. I knew illegal substances were off limits, but I could always talk to my parents if I needed to. They understood that things happen and wanting to fit in is a real issue that doesn’t go away once you’ve reached adulthood. I expect I will emulate my parents’ stance in the future.

The Science Behind It All

A route that may work even better for some kids is to explain to them the neuroscience behind drugs and addiction. In a way this is similar to scare tactics because frankly it is some scary stuff. You don’t even have to know a lot about neuroscience and the brain to be able to understand some of the addiction basics. Schools and parents could easily use a logical scientific explanation for their kids if that will reach them better.
Dopamine is the chemical your brain releases in response to something you find pleasurable, like drugs, food, and sex. This chemical is what gives you that “feel good” sensation that makes you want more. The amount of dopamine is regulated closely to ensure proper functioning of many aspects of the brain. The pathway that drugs and dopamine work on is the mesolimbic pathway shown below.

When someone takes drugs, they get an increase of dopamine release to various brain regions. The drug causes dopamine producing neurons in the ventral tegmentum area (VTA) to release dopamine to the nucleus accumbens (NAc). The dopamine binds to receptors and stimulates the NAc to release dopamine to the prefrontal cortex. This all results in the “high” people feel when taking drugs.
Repeated drug use causes this dopamine pathway to be more active than normal. Drugs cause changes to neuron growth and connectivity, ultimately making the pathway stronger. This change to the structure of the brain increases reactivity to drug cues and reduces sensitivity to non-drug rewards. The fact that drugs change brain structure and neuron growth makes addiction a neurological disease.

What Works for You?

In the end it comes down to what works for you so that you or your children don’t become addicted to substances. Between scare tactics, parental involvement, and a scientific explanation there are plenty of routes to choose from. For me scare tactics seemed to work, but as a biology and neuroscience major identifying addiction as a neurological disease that changes the brain structure helped me to understand addiction in a different light. Instead of blaming a person for becoming addicted, I now know addiction is much more complicated

Sources:

For more on the science behind addiction check out this article: http://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(15)00962-9
Featured Image: https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/scicurious/addiction-showcases-brain-flexibility

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