Drugs & their effects on the CNS .

Drugs & their effects on the CNShttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nl5gBJGnaXs

Name some drugs…

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What ARE Drugs?????

Drug Definition

• Any substance that alters mental functioning and whose use can lead to abuse or dependence.

Did you know: Caffeine

Did you know

• Marijuana has over 200 nicknames• Bart Simpson – street name for LSD/Acid• One in ten people who drink become alcoholics• 40% of the US population has tried marijuana• Students spend $5.5 billion on alcohol• Ingredients in Coca Cola(long time ago) was a liquid

extract of the coca leaf and did in fact contain cocaine

• It would take 800 joints to kill a person—but the cause of death would be carbon monoxide poisoning

3 Types of Substance Using Behaviour

1. Recreational use:using drugs in a way that does not lead to any health complications or behavioural problems

2. Substance abuse:using drugs in a way that may cause physical, emotional, psychological, or social harm to users or those around them

3. Substance dependence:can be sudden or gradual, when someone can no longer stop using a substance without experiencing physical or psychological suffering

2 types: physical and/or psychological

YOUR BRAIN ON DRUGS....How do drugs work?

Drugs: Neurons & Synapses

• Recall: For one neuron to send an electrical impulse to another, it secretes a chemical messenger called a neurotransmitter (NT) (ex: dopamine) into a gap (synaptic cleft) between it and the next neuron

It is on this process that drugs act:

1. Some drugs imitate natural NTs• Morphine, nicotine, etc.

2. Some increase the secretion of natural NTs• Cocaine, ecstasy, etc.

3. Some block the effect of natural NTs• Alcohol

Check these out

• Cocaine and the Brain

• http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00dbt6c

Stimulants and Depressants

– Stimulates neurons (causes increase in electrical activity)

• Caffeine • Ecstasy• Cocaine• Nicotine

– Depresses neurons (causes decrease in electrical activity)

• Alcohol• Xanax® and Valium® for people with anxiety• Narcotics (opium, morphine, codeine, heroin)

Stimulants

– Symptoms of cocaine use:• euphoria (exaggerated feeling of well-being) • dilated pupils • rapid heart rate • restlessness and hyperactivity

– Symptoms of cocaine withdrawal:• fatigue and malaise • depression • vivid and unpleasant dreams

Depressants

• CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM DEPRESSANTS – Symptoms of alcohol use:

• slurred speech • lack of coordination • decreased attention span • impaired judgment

– Symptoms of alcohol withdrawal:• anxiety • tremors • seizures • increase in blood pressure, pulse, and temperature • delirium

Marijuana (pot, weed, ganja…)

• The active ingredient in marijuana is THC• THC produces euphoria and a mild disorientation. • Vivid sensation, and perception of time may be distorted.• THC affects three key brain functions:

– Memory: Pot disrupts short-term memory– Motor skills: slow reaction time = serious problems for

inexperienced teen drivers. – Thought: Higher-order thinking skills affected,

including calculation skills and the ability to follow complex instructions.

• These effects last several hours, although some subtle changes can linger into the next day.

• Other short-term effects include increased appetite and heart rate, and reddening of the eyes.

• Research often changes but some long-term effects known are:– Heart/Lungs

• It could pose a risk to people with heart problems or hypertension. Long-term pot smokers could be subject to many of the same smoking-related diseases as cigarette smokers.

– Hormones • Marijuana lowers levels of sex hormones in both

sexes. In adolescents, could affect sexual maturation– Brain

• Research shows that marijuana can interfere with the process by which short-term memories are encoded and stored in the brain. And even though such impairment seems to be reversible, its effects on school grades definitely isn't.

Marijuana (pot, weed, ganja…)

Drugs: Short & LONG term changes

• Alcohol, methamphetamine (meth), and MDMA (Ecstasy) can kill neurons.– Unlike other types of cells in the body,

neurons in many parts of the brain have little or no capability to regenerate.

– Alcohol kills neurons in the part of the brain that helps create new memories. If those neurons die, the capability for learning decreases.