Effects and health issues of coccaine-DRUGS HEALTH

Cocaine is a potent central nervous system stimulant. Its effects can last from 20 minutes to several hours, depending upon the dosage of cocaine taken, purity, and method of administration.The initial signs of stimulation are hyperactivity, restlessness, increased blood pressure, increased heart rate and euphoria. The euphoria is sometimes followed by feelings of discomfort and depression and a craving to experience the drug again. Sexual interest and pleasure can be amplified. Side effects can include twitching, paranoia, and impotence, which usually increases with frequent usage.

With excessive dosage the drug can produce itching, tachycardia, hallucinations, and paranoid delusions. Overdoses cause tachyarrhythmias and a marked elevation of blood pressure. These can be life-threatening, especially if the user has existing cardiac problems. The LD50 of cocaine when administered to mice is 95.1 mg/kg. Toxicity results in seizures, followed by respiratory and circulatory depression of medullar origin. This may lead to death from respiratory failure, stroke, cerebral hemorrhage, or heart-failure. Cocaine is also highly pyrogenic, because the stimulation and increased muscular activity cause greater heat production. Heat loss is inhibited by the intense vasoconstriction. Cocaine-induced hyperthermia may cause muscle cell destruction and myoglobinuria resulting in renal failure. Emergency treatment often consists of administering a benzodiazepine sedation agent, such as diazepam (Valium) to decrease the elevated heart rate and blood pressure. Physical cooling (ice, cold blankets, etc...) and paracetamol(acetaminophen) may be used to treat hyperthermia, while specific treatments are then developed for any further complications. There is no officially approved specific antidote for cocaine overdose.

In cases where a patient is unable or unwilling to seek medical attention, cocaine overdoses resulting in mild-moderate tachycardia (i.e.: a resting pulse greater than 120 bpm), may be initially treated with 20 mg of orally administered diazepam or equivalent benzodiazepine (eg: 2mg lorazepam). Acetaminophen and physical cooling may likewise be used to reduce mild hyperthermia (<39>cardiac arrest or stroke, and requires immediate medical treatment. Cocaine's primary acute effect on brain chemistry is to raise the amount of dopamine and serotonin in the nucleus accumbens (the pleasure center in the brain); this effect ceases, due to metabolism of cocaine to inactive compounds and particularly due to the depletion of the transmitter resources (tachyphylaxis). This can be experienced acutely as feelings of depression, as a "crash" after the initial high. Further mechanisms occur in chronic cocaine use. The "crash" is accompanied with muscle spasms throughout the body, also known as the "jitters", muscle weakness, headaches, dizziness, and suicidal thoughts. Not all users will experience these, but most tend to experience some or all of these symptoms. Cocaine can cause coronary artery spasms which lead to a myocardial infarction. This effect can happen randomly to any user.
Chronic cocaine intake causes brain cells to adapt functionally to strong imbalances of transmitter levels in order to compensate extremes. Thus, receptors disappear from the cell surface or reappear on it, resulting more or less in an "off" or "working mode" respectively, or they change their susceptibility for binding partners (ligands) – mechanisms called down-/upregulation. Chronic cocaine use leads to a DATS upregulation. further contributing to depressed mood states. However, studies suggest cocaine abusers do not show normal age-related loss of striatal DAT sites, suggesting cocaine has neuroprotective properties for dopamine neurons. Physical withdrawal is not dangerous, and is in fact restorative. The lack of normal amounts of serotonin and dopamine in the brain is the cause of the dysphoria and depression felt after the initial high. The diagnostic criteria for cocaine withdrawal are characterized by a dysphoric mood, fatigue, unpleasant dreams, insomnia or hypersomnia, erectile dysfunction, increased appetite, psychomotor retardation or agitation, and anxiety.

Cocaine abuse also has multiple physical health consequences. It is associated with a lifetime risk of heart attack that is 6% higher than that of non-users. During the hour after cocaine is used, heart attack risk rises 24-fold. Side effects from chronic smoking of cocaine include hemoptysis, bronchospasm, pruritus, fever, diffuse alveolar infiltrates without effusions, pulmonary and systemic eosinophiliachest, pain, lung trauma, shortness of breath, sore throat, asthma, hoarse voice, dyspnea, and an aching, flu-like syndrome. Chronic intranasal usage can degrade the cartilage separating the nostrils (the septum nasi), leading eventually to its complete disappearance. Cocaine may also greatly increase this risk of developing rare autoimmune or connective tissue diseases such as lupus, Goodpasture's disease, vasculitis, glomerulonephritis, Stevens-Johnson syndrome and other diseases. It can also cause a wide array of kidney diseases and renal failure.[Cocaine abuse doubles both the risks of hemorrhagic and ischemic strokes.
So coccaine is very dangerous drugs for our health