Safety Showcase
Drugs and the Brain—the facts
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An overdose of some drugs can cause the individual to collapse completely either into a state of unconsciousness or into a coma. This is usually due to the onset of a seizure or because messages are not travelling between the brain and the chest causing respiratory failure or cardiac arrest to occur. In this situation there is a strong possibility that the brain is starved of oxygen. The outcome of such damage is very serious and the patient may emerge from coma into a vegetative or minimally conscious state.
Strokes are also a common result a large drug overdose. Cocaine is sometimes associated with a ‘coke stroke’. This is where there is a bleed or a clot in the brain causing that part of the brain to stop functioning properly. Sometimes lots of abilities can be restored with intensive rehabilitation.
Other effects are due to interference with the chemical transmitters of the brain. Ecstasy destroys cells which produce serotonin and this may cause symptoms including depression, anxiety, memory disturbance, and other neuropsychiatric disorders.
The sustained use of cannabis is linked to deterioration in attention, memory and learning. Studies in this area have become more prominent in recent years and show cannabis use if linked to the onset or worsening conditions of depression and psychosis.
If you are worried about your own drug use or that of another person you may like to see the following website for further details Talk to Frank
Reprinted with permission. Copyright ©2005TWEAN News Channel of Austin, L.P. d.b.a. News 8 Austin