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13.

The Use and Abuse of Drugs


Sunday, April 12, 2009
10:14 PM

INTRODUCTION

1. Drug:
• Any externally administered substance that modifies or affects chemical reactions in the body.

2. Drugs can be grouped as follows:


I. Sedatives (Depressants):
○ Slow down the brain and make you feel sleepy;
○ Include tranquilizers and sleeping pills;
○ e.g. alcohol.

II. Stimulants:
○ Speed up the action of the brain and make you feel alert;
○ Sometimes given to people who are suffering from severe depression;
○ e.g. coffee, tea and nicotine.

III. Hallucinogens:
○ Cause a person to experience illusion, hallucinations and distorted images;
○ e.g. cannabis.

IV. Opiates:
○ Include opium, morphine and heroin;
○ Relieve pain and induce sleep and stupor.

3. Drugs may cause:


I. Tolerance:
○ If taken over a long period of time, the dosage has to keep increasing in order to have the
same effect;
○ If the dosage continues to increase, it will become so large that it may cause death;
○ e.g. people who drink alcohol in order to relieve anxiety may have to keep drinking more
and more before they feel relaxed.

II. Dependence:
○ It is the condition in which the user cannot do without the substance;
○ e.g. cigarette smoking can cause emotional dependence - crave for it, may be bad-
tempered, anxious or depressed without it;
○ May also cause physical dependence (addiction) and cause withdrawal symptoms(??).

13.1 Antibiotics

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13.1 Antibiotics

1. Antibiotics:
• Chemicals that are widely used to treat many infectious diseases caused by microorganisms;
• Produced by certain bacteria and moulds and some are man-made;
• Do not harm viruses.

2. Four main types of antibiotics:


I) Penicillins:
○ Made by the fungus Penicillium;
○ Attack a few bacteria (Narrow-spectrum antibiotics).

II) Cephalosporins:
○ Made by the mould Cephalosporium;
○ Useful against penicillin-resistant bacteria.

III) Tetracyclines:
○ Made by the bacterium Streptomyces aurofaciens;
○ Act against a variety of bacteria (Broad-spectrum antibiotics).

IV) Erythromycins:
○ Work against the same type of bacteria as penicillin;
○ Useful against penicillin-resistant bacteria.

3. Anaesthatics:
• Drugs that made the body unable to feel pain;
• e.g. Cocaine, which causes a loss of sensation in the area where it is injected.

4. Analgesics:
• Drugs that can relieve pain without causing numbness or affecting consciousness;
• e.g. Aspirin, which relieves minor pain and reduces fever,
• If taken in large doses, may produce some side effects, e.g. gastric ulcers.

13.2 Effects of heroin

1. Heroin:
• Obtained from opium;
• A type of painkillers;
• Used as a sedative and powerful analgesic;
• Highly addictive (drug dependence), often abused by drug users.

2. Effects of heroin:
• Social problems;
• Brain damage (affect the brain);
• Lung damage (affect the lungs);
• Affect the diet - lose of weight, constipation, lose of appetite, gastric ulcers;
• Withdrawal symptoms:
○ Physically ill (experiences nausea, vomiting, uncontrolled trembling);
○ Mentally disturbed (experience acute anxiety, depression, etc.).

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13.3 Effects of alcohol

1. Alcohol:
• A depressant;

2. Effects of alcohol:
• Slow down some brain functions;
• Reduce nervous tension and worries;
• Self-control is reduced;
• Blurred vision and poor muscular co-ordination;
• Anaesthetize the brain and can cause unconsciousness;
• Addiction (drug dependence).
• Damage the liver because alcohol is broken down in the liver;
• Social problems.

13.4 Effects of tobacco smoke

1. 3 major components of tobacco smoke:


• Nicotine - addictive drug;
• Tar - a brown, sticky substance that accumulates in the lungs during smoking;
• Carbon monoxide (CO).

2. Effects of nicotine:
• Stimulates the brain making the smoker alert and relaxes the muscles then, dulls the brain and
senses;
• Release adrenaline - increase the rate of heartbeat and blood pressure;
• Clots the blood easily - increasing the risk of blood clots blocking the blood vessels - clotting of
the coronary arteries cause heart attack, clotting of the capillaries of the brain cause stroke;

3. Effects of carbon monoxide:


• Reduces the efficiency of the red blood cells to transport oxygen - may cause death;
• Increases the rate of the deposition of fatty substances on the inner walls of arteries, causing
lumen to become narrower;
• Damages the lining of blood vessels - increasing the tendency of the blood to clot and so block
the blood vessels;
• It is more readily to combine with haemoglobin to form carboxyhaemoglobin instead of
oxyhaemoglobin.

4. Effects of tar:
• Contains cancer-causing (carcinogens) chemicals;
• Uncontrolled multiplication of cells results in outgrowths or lumps of tissue (cancer) - blocking
off the air sacs, reducing the efficiency for gaseous exchange;
• Paralyses the cilia from removing dust particles from the lungs and trachea.

5. Smoking-related diseases:
• Lung cancer;
• Chronic brochitis;
• Emphysema.

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• Emphysema.

6. Effects of smoking during pregnancy:


• Brain development of the fetus is affected - the child may have learning difficulties in later life;
• The fetus grows more slowly, born smaller, more fragile and may die quickly within the first few
days of life;
• A higher risk of the baby being born prematurely;
• The baby has a greater risk of being born dead (stillborn).

7. Nowadays,many people regard smoking as no longer socially acceptable.

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