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Sylvia L. Rivers Community Outreach Coordinator Center for Drug and Alcohol Programs

How Drugs and Alcohol Affect the Brain. Sylvia L. Rivers Community Outreach Coordinator Center for Drug and Alcohol Programs. MUSC Center for Drug & Alcohol Programs. “to combat alcohol and drug addiction through research, education, patient care and outreach”.

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Sylvia L. Rivers Community Outreach Coordinator Center for Drug and Alcohol Programs

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  1. How Drugs and Alcohol Affect the Brain Sylvia L. Rivers Community Outreach Coordinator Center for Drug and Alcohol Programs

  2. MUSC Center for Drug & Alcohol Programs “to combat alcohol and drug addiction through research, education, patient care and outreach”

  3. Addiction affects all walks of life!

  4. Part I How the brain works

  5. Brain cells (neurons) talk to each other • They use chemicals called neurotransmitters • One cell gives its neurotransmitters to another cell to tell it what to do • This process is called neurotransmission

  6. Basic Wiring of the Brain

  7. Furry! Pet Kitty! Purrr!

  8. Summary 1. Our brain controls how we feel, think and act 2. Brain cells are called neurons 3. Neurons communicate with each other with chemicals called neurotransmitters This process is called neurotransmission

  9. Part II How Alcohol & Drugs Affect the Brain

  10. REWARD Frontal Cortex STOP

  11. REWARD Feeling Pleasure and Reward: the Dopamine Way!

  12. The Reward System • Food, water, warmth (natural reinforcers) cause dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens • All drugs of abuse artificially cause neurotransmission in the nucleus accumbens to an extreme degree

  13. ? ? ? DRUG EFFECTS: TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING! STOP?

  14. What does this mean to your brain? It means that you try drugs you will probably like them. Because you like them, you’ll do it again. And then again. And then again….. Then what?

  15. Too much dopamine, and the body “turns down the volume” on its own… Brain changes..

  16. Your brain changes • Over time, drugs of abuse highjack your brain: your neurons change physically--one result is that you lose the ability to feel pleasure (resets pleasure meter) • You will need more and more of the drug just to feel “normal”--like you used to be before you took drugs • You lose the ability to “take or leave” the drug--you HAVE to have it, aka addiction

  17. Addiction is a chronic brain disease • Recovering addicts struggle for the rest of their lives not to use drugs or alcohol again • Most recovering addicts relapse • The brain of an addicted person remains changed for a long, long time--scientists don’t know if it ever returns to “normal”

  18. Brain Scanner - fMRI

  19. Cingulate Alcoholism-The DiseaseSocial Drinker Alcoholic Insula Ventral Striatum When people crave alcohol, there are certain changes to the brain that can be seen on MUSC’s fMRI. These craving centers of the brain are being studied and new medications are being used in an attempt to reduce craving for When people crave alcohol, there are certain changes to the brain that can be seen on MUSC’s fMRI. These craving centers of the brain are being studied and new medications are being used in an attempt to reduce craving for alcohol and its affect on the brain

  20. Normal Cocaine Abuser (10 days later) Cocaine Abuser (100 days later) Brain activity is changed by drugs

  21. Part III Drugs/Alcohol & High School

  22. Drugs, Alcohol, Teenage Brain Age of first use, number of initiates Older Adult Infant Child Adolescent Adult

  23. Warning: Your Brain’s not done growing! IMAGES OF BRAIN DEVELOPMENT IN HEALTHY CHILDREN AND TEENS (AGES 5–20) Age 5 Age 20 SIDE VIEW. TOP VIEW. Blue represents maturing of brain areas.

  24. If you start early, you have a greater chance of getting hooked!

  25. Don’t believe the hype:Not everyone’s doing it…

  26. Warning: Drugs can ruin a person, a very short time!

  27. Summary • The braindoes not fully developed until mid 20’s • The younger you start using, the more likely you’ll get hooked • Everybody’s NOT doing it • If you drink too much, you can die • If you use alcohol/drugs frequently over a steady period of time, they can take over your life

  28. Let Your Brain Fully Develop

  29. The bottom line

  30. Questions? www.alcoholanddrugabuse.org www.CDAP.musc.edu Sylvia Rivers 843-792-9531 riverssy@musc.edu

  31. Tips for Parents • Tune Into Your Teen • Guide Your Teen • Respect Your Teen • Be a Good Role Model

  32. Effects of Alcohol Long term: Severe memory loss Constant states of confusion Liver damage Brain damage Short term: Impairs vision, taste, smell Slows reaction time Impairs attention Blackouts

  33. Heavy DrinkingThe Risks – The Body Heavy drinking takes its toll: • Inflammation of the liver (cirrhosis, hepatitis) • Increased blood pressure (hypertension) • Damaged heart muscle • Stroke • Suppression of the immune system • Pneumonia • Osteoporosis • Brain atrophy • Peripheral vascular disease • Miscarriage • Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) • Accidents and trauma • Suicide • Pancreatitis (especially in people with high levels of triglycerides) • Linked with cancers (mouth, throat, esophagus, colon, pancreas, liver, breast)

  34. Alcohol Facts • Drinking impairs judgment, coordination, can increase feelings of depression • Binge drinking: 4 drinks for women and 5 drinks for men over a four-hour period. Less time, more risk; younger people, more risk. • Alcohol poisoning is a severe, physical reaction to an overdose of alcohol. The brain, struggling to deal with the overdose of alcohol and lack of oxygen, begins to shut down the voluntary functions that regulate breathing and heart rate.

  35. A Standard Serving of Alcohol

  36. BAL LEVEL (legal limit .08) .08 Legal Limit Impaired balance, speech and vision .15 Gross motor impairment, judgment severely impaired .20 Feeling dazed, nausea, impaired gag reflex (choke on vomit) .30 STUPOR, little comprehension where you are, pass out .40 Onset of coma, possible death due to respiratory arrest

  37. After 2 hours of drinking… .08 Legal Limit Impaired balance, speech and vision .15 Gross motor impairment, judgment severely impaired .20 Feeling dazed, nausea, impaired gag reflex (choke on vomit) .30 STUPOR, little comprehension where you are, pass out .40 Onset of coma, possible death due to respiratory arrest

  38. Alcohol Poisoning

  39. Acetone: nail polish removerAmmonia: household cleanerArsenic: used in rat poisonsBenzene: used in making dyes Butane: gas; used in lighter fluidCarbon monoxide: poisonous gasCadmium: used in batteriesCyanide: deadly poisonDDT: a banned insecticideHydrogen Cyanide: rat poisonLead: poisonous in high dosesMethoprene: insecticideMethyl isocyanate: its accidental release killed 2000 people in Bhopal, India in 1984Napthalene: ingredient in mothballsNicotine: a poison used to kill cockroachesPolonium: cancer-causing radioactive element Cigarettes

  40. Nicotine (Cigarettes) • Nicotine is the most addictive and psychoactive chemical in tobacco • Cigarette • Reaches brain in 8 seconds • Chewing tobacco and snuff • Mucous membranes lining mouth and nasal passageways • One of 4,000 chemicals in tobacco products

  41. Health Consequences of Smoking • Cancers of the larynx, oral cavity, esophagus, bladder, pancreas, and kidney (30% of all cancer deaths caused by smoking) • Lung cancer (80%-90% of all deaths) and emphysema. • Heart disease (people who smoke have nearly twice the risk of contracting it than nonsmokers do) • 4.3 million men and women worldwide die prematurely due to cigarette smoking.

  42. Marijuana • Is marijuana addictive? • What are effects of marijuana on brain and body? • What is K-2 or Spice?

  43. Is Marijuana Addictive? Many people believe that marijuana cannot cause addiction THIS IS NOT TRUE Marijuana users CAN become addicted to marijuana Addicted users have cravings for marijuana and show withdrawal symptoms when not using

  44. Short-Term Effects of Marijuana Distorted Perception Problems with memory and learning Loss of coordination Trouble with thinking & problem solving Increased heart rate

  45. Other drugs • Other drugs • Opiates “pain pills” • Benzodiazepines “benzoes”, “anxiety pills” • Detxomethorphan (DXM, “Triple C’s”) • Family history of addiction

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