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Using cocaine may change how people’s brains work and increase their risk for many serious medical issues. Finding the next high may seem like the most important thing in their lives. But the impact of cocaine use can last for months, years or a lifetime.

Cocaine Addiction And Abuse

They can also add other drugs like amphetamine, fentanyl, heroin, or procaine. Some of the side effects of cocaine depend on how you take the drug. If you snort it, you might have nosebleeds, loss of smell, hoarseness, nasal irritation, runny nose, or trouble swallowing. If you inject it, you could develop tracks (puncture marks on your arms) and infections, such as HIV or hepatitis C. Medications are sometimes used in combination with behavioral therapy. Disulfiram (a medication that has been used to treat alcohol abuse) in combination with behavioral treatment, has been successful in reducing cocaine abuse.

Tarnika found her mum living in a cardboard box and addicted to drugs

Additionally, cocaine also has the capacity to directly target adrenergic, N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA), and sigma and kappa opioid receptors. The sympathomimetic properties of cocaine are related to the above-mentioned inhibition of noradrenaline reuptake via noradrenaline transporter (NAT). The anaesthetic action of cocaine is related to its capacity to block voltage-gated sodium channels by stabilizing these channels in an inactive state is marijuana addictive (Figure 3). The binding of cocaine to the channel’s pore prevents sodium from flowing through it into the cells and thus blocking the depolarization process and the propagation of the electrical impulses [1,24,75]. The current medical use is very limited as most countries consider it obsolete. It can still be used as a topical anaesthetic, which might be particularly useful for endoscopic sinus surgery, given its vasoconstrictive effects.

Reduced drug use is a meaningful treatment outcome for people with stimulant use disorders

Cocaine is a potent stimulant drug that alters activity within the brain’s reward system, which is located in the limbic system. Although cocaine is highly addictive, not everyone who uses it will become addicted. The addictive potential of cocaine for each person depends on a number of factors, such as genes, environmental risk factors, protective factors, and more.

Normally, neurons release dopamine in response to a pleasurable stimulus, such as the smell of good food. Once the dopamine has passed on its message, it returns inside the neuron, and the signal stops. Diluting the cocaine enables the seller to make more profit by “stretching” the amount of pure cocaine they have to sell. It is normally found as a white, crystalline powder or as an off-white, chunky substance. It is extracted from the leaves of Erythroxylon coca (E. coca), also known as the coca scrub, a plant that grows in the Andean highlands of South America.

Treating A Cocaine Addiction

Many people who experiment with cocaine usually do so in environments where other substances are being used. For this reason, many people with a cocaine addiction may also have a dependence on other substances, such as alcohol or marijuana. This is known as poly-drug use and is especially dangerous, as it increases the risk of fatal overdose. Some of these withdrawal symptoms will subside after the first week or so that the individual goes without cocaine, but others tend to linger much longer than that, with depression and cravings that can potentially last for months. These issues make it very difficult for a person to stay away from the drug, as they may experience drug use triggers years after they’ve stopped using cocaine. This is why professional treatment followed by long term counseling and attendance at 12-step or peer support meetings is crucial for continued recovery from cocaine addiction.

1. It can affect your heart, brain, lungs, gut, and kidneys as well as your emotional health and daily life — especially if you become addicted.
2. One research delving into the grey matter abnormalities of crack users discovered diminished cortical thickness in the left temporal, orbitofrontal and rostro frontal cortexes and reduced grey matter volume in the right hippocampus and ventral diencephalon [117].
3. A subject who drank a cup of the Peruvian (4.14 mg cocaine) or Bolivian teas (4.29 mg cocaine) had, in their urine, a BE concentration of 3940 ng/mL and 4979 ng/mL, 10 and 3.5 h after ingestion, respectively [58].
4. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, around 68% of people seeking cocaine treatment regularly use crack cocaine.
5. Medications can treat the symptoms related to cocaine withdrawal, but there is no substitute drug that can effectively help a patient recover from a cocaine dependency.

In vivo and in vitro studies have also shown that cocaine has a neurotoxic potential. Cunha-Oliveira et al. saw that 1 mM of cocaine led to an increase in calcium concentrations and caspase-3 activity, as well as a decrease in mitochondrial membrane potential and ATP in rat cortical neurons exposed for 24 h [112]. Furthermore, cocaine exposure in models of rat primary hippocampal neurons (1 mM) and mouse primary cortical neurons (1, 10, 100 and 200 μM) increased the expression of autophagy markers LC-3 I and II [113,114]. Nifedipine, a selective blocker of L-type calcium channels, reverted the reduction of cerebral blood flow and tissue oxygenation induced by increases in neuronal calcium currents, in the prefrontal cortex of rats exposed to 1 mg/Kg cocaine [115]. On the other hand, the psychoactive and sympathomimetic effects of cocaine derive from the blockade of presynaptic transporters responsible for the reuptake of serotonin, noradrenaline, and dopamine. In the case of the latter, the blockade of the presynaptic dopamine transporter (DAT) in the synaptic cleft causes an extracellular increase in dopamine with an overstimulation of the dopaminergic postsynaptic receptors, inducing the euphoric ‘rush’ [3,53].

In the author’s laboratory, work has focused on buildup of the genetic transcription factor ΔFosB. Levels of ΔFosB in the limbic system correlate with addiction-like behaviors in mice and may precipitate very long-lasting changes to nerve cell structure. Further pursuit of this and similar leads are first steps toward a complete understanding of the transition from cocaine abuse to addiction—and, ultimately, more effective treatments for those who are addicted. Using it increases your risk of serious and sometimes life-threatening medical conditions like heart attack, stroke and drug overdose. Cocaine use disorder (addiction) can affect your personal relationships. Cognitive behavioral therapy may help people recover from cocaine use disorder.

The drug achieves its main immediate psychological effect—the high—by causing a buildup of the neurochemical dopamine. Fentanyl is also a known contaminant of cocaine, with people purchasing what they think is cocaine only to overdose and experience respiratory depression when it is found that it was laced with fentanyl. This combination of brain-changing effects can evolve into the user focusing on cocaine instead of relationships, food, or other natural rewards. Consequences of misuse are extremely dangerous and range from memory loss to heart attacks, seizures, and overdose. Even individuals with a mild cocaine problem should seek professional help to avoid developing a life-threatening addiction to the drug. Cocaine withdrawal occurs when someone has become physically dependent on the drug, and the levels of cocaine in their system begin to decline.

Cocaine is a stimulant drug derived from the leaves of the coca plant native to South America. According to a 2022 study, close to 25 million people around the world use cocaine. But the most significant effect is how cocaine use changes people’s brains, setting the stage for cocaine addiction (cocaine use disorder). Side effects that can develop as a result of smoking crack include coughing up blood, hoarseness, persistent sore throat, and shortness of breath. Reuptake is a process that normally modulates the action of the neurotransmitters by decreasing their concentration in the brain.

The hallmark hepatic lesion following cocaine use is hepatocellular necrosis, which was also demonstrated in animal studies [83,122]. Other pathological characteristics of cocaine-induced hepatic injury include increased infiltration with fatty acids, increased blood aspartate aminotransferase levels and pernicious conjugates of reactive cocaine metabolites with cellular macromolecules [83]. Morphological differences between users and non-users of cocaine have also been investigated. One research delving into the grey matter abnormalities of crack users discovered learn the risks of combining ativan and alcohol diminished cortical thickness in the left temporal, orbitofrontal and rostro frontal cortexes and reduced grey matter volume in the right hippocampus and ventral diencephalon [117]. The left and right nucleus accumbens, a brain area crucial in reward, pleasure, and reinforcement learning processes, has also been proven to have a reduced volume in crack users compared to healthy controls (with no differences in intracranial volume) [118]. Cocaine has a fast disposal to the tissues, with a distribution volume ranging between 1 and 3 L/Kg [53,59].

Cocaine is an intense, euphoria-producing stimulant drug with strong addictive potential. Treatment may be delivered on an outpatient basis, but treatment for cocaine addiction often requires a period of inpatient care in a treatment center, particularly since withdrawal symptoms can lead to depression and a variety of serious psychiatric symptoms. As an individual develops tolerance to cocaine, they also become physically dependent on it. If the drug is discontinued, withdrawal symptoms, with physical effects, can occur. A strong craving for cocaine is the most prominent effect of withdrawal, but other symptoms usually occur as well. People addicted to cocaine experience withdrawal symptoms when they stop using the stimulant.

Cocaine induces its main psychoactive effects by impeding monoamine reuptake. The drug impacts several organs, such as the heart; brain; liver; kidneys; lungs; and has complex underlying mechanisms alcohol use disorder symptoms and causes of toxicity that are herein described. We do not yet have complete answers to these questions, but we have learned a great deal. We now know that cocaine affects brain cells in a variety of ways.

Compared with the inhalation and intranasal routes, when cocaine is administered intravenously it takes twice as much time to reach the brain circulation and the peak plasma concentrations are higher and reached faster [53,54]. The most recent data regarding prevalence of cocaine use shows that, in the European Union, 1.2% of adults between the ages of 15 and 64 years have used cocaine in the past year [6]. In South America, the percentage of users in 2019 was almost identical (1%) to that observed in Europe for the same age range, while in North America the prevalence increased to 2.1% [5]. Cocaine is produced mainly in Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru, and from there it is trafficked to intermediate or final destinations.