When someone you love is involved with drugs it can be difficult to know what to do. Yet the reasons to intervene early are myriad. Among them is the fact that long-term drug abuse can damage a person’s physical and emotional health.
Addiction to drugs can lead to a variety of physical and mental health issues in the future. Drug addiction causes long-term brain changes that make quitting nearly impossible. Lung cancer, heart disease, liver damage, and kidney failure are examples of physical health issues. Depression and anxiety are examples of mental health issues that can arise. All of these health issues can be reversed with long-term drug addiction treatment and learning how to live without drugs.
Here are just a few ways that untreated drug abuse can affect the person that you care about.
The Circulatory System:
– Cocaine causes heart damage every time it is used. Injectable drugs can cause veins to collapse, and unclean needles can cause infections in your cardiovascular system. Prolonged stimulant abuse can result in long-term heart disease and heart failure.
Respiratory System:
– Lung diseases such as emphysema, lung cancer, and chronic bronchitis affect the lungs, and any drug smoked can harm the lungs. If you have asthma, opioids can aggravate it and make breathing difficult.
Kidney Problems:
– Kidney failure is fatal, and many drugs can cause long-term kidney damage. Kidney damage is caused by a lack of water (dehydration), muscle tissue failure, and an increase in body temperature.
Damage to the Liver:
– Prescription opioids and heroin can cause liver damage, and mixing these drugs with alcohol exacerbates the damage. In severe cases, there could be life-threatening liver damage.
Gastrointestinal Disorders:
– Several medications can harm your intestines and/or stomach. Acid reflux, constipation, and chronic pain are some of the symptoms.
Cognitive Function Impairment:
– Drug use alters glutamate, a neurotransmitter in the reward system. Because it changes the way you think after the glutamate is changed, it makes thinking and concentrating more difficult.
Memory Alterations:
– Substance abuse alters a person's memory and learning, conditioning them to seek out and use drugs. Cues in a person's environment act as stimuli, causing them to subconsciously desire and want a drug.
Brain Connection Alterations:
– Drug use affects more than just the reward system of the brain. Other effects of drug abuse include physical changes in the relationships between neurons, or brain cells, over time. more information
If you or a loved one is struggling please reach out.
All American Detox Center can help you with addiction treatment, Call Now: (877) 741-9098
– Cocaine causes heart damage every time it is used. Injectable drugs can cause veins to collapse, and unclean needles can cause infections in your cardiovascular system. Prolonged stimulant abuse can result in long-term heart disease and heart failure.
Respiratory System:
– Lung diseases such as emphysema, lung cancer, and chronic bronchitis affect the lungs, and any drug smoked can harm the lungs. If you have asthma, opioids can aggravate it and make breathing difficult.
Kidney Problems:
– Kidney failure is fatal, and many drugs can cause long-term kidney damage. Kidney damage is caused by a lack of water (dehydration), muscle tissue failure, and an increase in body temperature.
Damage to the Liver:
– Prescription opioids and heroin can cause liver damage, and mixing these drugs with alcohol exacerbates the damage. In severe cases, there could be life-threatening liver damage.
Gastrointestinal Disorders:
– Several medications can harm your intestines and/or stomach. Acid reflux, constipation, and chronic pain are some of the symptoms.
Cognitive Function Impairment:
– Drug use alters glutamate, a neurotransmitter in the reward system. Because it changes the way you think after the glutamate is changed, it makes thinking and concentrating more difficult.
Memory Alterations:
– Substance abuse alters a person's memory and learning, conditioning them to seek out and use drugs. Cues in a person's environment act as stimuli, causing them to subconsciously desire and want a drug.
Brain Connection Alterations:
– Drug use affects more than just the reward system of the brain. Other effects of drug abuse include physical changes in the relationships between neurons, or brain cells, over time. more information
If you or a loved one is struggling please reach out.
All American Detox Center can help you with addiction treatment, Call Now: (877) 741-9098
Alcohol/drug abuse counseling is a long-lasting condition that manifests itself through compulsive, or uncontrollable, use of drugs and usage despite negative effects and changes to the brain that can last for a long time. These brain changes could lead to harmful behavior seen in those who take substances.
ReplyDelete