Chapter 23

1. Chapter 23 Medicines and Drugs

2. Lesson 1 The Role of Medicines

3. Classifications of Medicines • Medicines • Drugs that are used to treat or prevent disease or other conditions • Drugs • Substances other than food that change the structure or function of the body or mind • Medicines can be sorted into four broad categories • Help prevent disease • Fight pathogens, or infectious agents that cause disease • Relieve pain • Help maintain or restore health and regulate the body’s system

4. Medicines that Prevent Disease • Vaccines • A preparation introduced into the body to stimulate an immune response • Contain weakened or dead pathogens that stimulate your body to produce specific antibodies against those pathogens

5. Medicines that Relieve Pain • Analgesics or pain relievers • Range from mild (aspirin) to strong narcotics (opium based, morphine and codeine) • Aspirin = acetylsalicylic acid, is used to relieve pain, reduce fever, and to treat arthritis • Aspirin can be dangerous to children • Ibuprofen = acetaminophen

6. Medicines and the Body • Every person is different • Side Effects – reactions to medicine other than the one intended • Additive Interaction • Medicines work together in a positive way • Synergistic Effect • Two or more medicines work to a greater effect than when they are taken separately • Antagonist Interaction • When one medicine is canceled or reduced when taken with another medicine

7. Other Problems • Tolerance • Condition in which the person becomes used to the effect of medicine • Withdrawal • Occurs when a person stops using a medicine • Especially true when someone forms a dependency on the medicine

8. Medicine Safety • Laws and policies for testing and approving new medicines • Prescription Medicines • Written approval • Over-the-Counter Medicines • Can buy without a prescription

9. Lesson 2 Drug Use – A High-Risk Behavior

10. What is Substance Abuse? • Substance abuse – any unnecessary or improper chemical substances for nonmedical purposes • Overuse, multiple use of a drug, use of an illegal drug, and use of a drug in combination with alcohol or other drugs. • Illegal drugs – chemical substances that people of any age may not lawfully manufacture, possess, buy or sell. • Illicit drug use – the use or sale of any substance that is illegal or otherwise not permitted

11. Factors That Influence Decisions About Drugs • Peer Pressure • Family Members • Role Models • Media Messages • Perceptions

12. The Health Risks of Drug Use • Physical health • Harm a user’s brain, heart, lungs and other vital organs • Overdose: a strong, sometimes fatal reaction to taking a large amount of a drug • Mental health • Cloud reasoning and thinking, users lose control of their behavior • Ecstasy alters the brain’s structure and function • Speeds up the nervous system, controls thinking mood, memory, and perception • Social health • “just experimenting” can say or do things that will regret later • Negative effect on relationships with friends and family • Expelled from school, often has legal consequences

13. Understanding the Addiction Cycle • Tolerance – needs more to feel the effect • Psychological dependence – person believes that a drug is needed in order to feel good or to function normally • Physiological dependence – a user has a chemical need for the drug • Addiction – physiological or psychological dependence on a drug

14. Lesson 3 Marijuana, Inhalants and Steroids

15. Marijuana • A plant whose leaves, buds and flowers are smoked for their intoxicating effects • One of the most widely used illegal drugs • Also known as pot, weed, or grass • Often the first drug teens experiment with • All forms are mind altering and can damage the user’s health • When combined with other drugs it can be deadly

16. Marijuana and Addiction • Raises levels of brain chemical called dopamine • Dopamine: produces a pleasurable feeling • Letdown or “crash” is when the pleasure sensation stops • Contains more cancer-causing chemicals than tobacco smoke and carries the same health risks as smoking tobacco • Interferes with the immune system, user becomes more susceptible to infections • Figure 23.3 (use for Pamphlet)

17. Risks to Mental/Emotional Health • Experience slow mental reflexes and suffer sudden feelings of anxiety and paranoia • Paranoia: an irrational suspiciousness or distrust of others • Dizzy, trouble walking, difficulty remembering • Short-term memory is adversely affected • Distorted perception, loss of coordination, trouble with thinking and problem solving

18. Risks to Growth and Development • Risks to the Reproductive Organs • Males: regular use interferes with sperm production and lowers levels of testosterone, the hormone responsible for the development of adult male characteristics • Females: increases testosterone levels, unwanted facial hair, lead to infertility

19. Risks and Consequences of Driving Under the Influence • Interferes with depth perception, impairs judgment, and slows reflexes • Penalties and legal consequences for driving while under the influence of marijuana are strict • Suspension of a driver’s license, a fine, and often jail time • Insurance will increase when license is restored

20. Inhalants • Substances whose fumes are sniffed and inhaled to achieve a mind-altering effect • Most go immediately to the brain, causing damage and actually killing brain cells that will never be replaced. • Include • Solvents and aerosols such as glues, spray paints, gasoline and varnishes • All inhalants are extremely dangerous and many are labeled as poisons • Cause permanent nervous system and brain damage

21. Inhalants cont., • Most inhalants depress the central nervous system and produce effects that include a glassy stare, slurred speech and impaired judgment • Can cause sudden death by increasing heart rate that results in cardiac arrest or death by suffocation

22. Anabolic-Androgenic Steroids • Synthetic substances that are similar to the male sex hormone testosterone • Anabolic refers to muscle building • Androgenic refers to increased male characteristics • When using under a doctors guidance , they help build muscle in patients with chronic diseases, all other use is illegal and dangerous • Can cause mood swings, impaired judgment resulting from feelings of invincibility, and paranoia

23. Lesson 4 Psychoactive Drugs

24. Classification of Psychoactive Drugs • Chemicals that affect the central nervous system and alter activity in the brain • Change the functioning of the CNS • There are four main groups (Figure 23.4, pamphlet) • 1. Stimulants • 2. Depressants • 3. Narcotics • 4. Hallucinogens

25. Health Risks of Stimulants • Stimulants are drugs that speed up the central nervous system • Foods that contain a small amount of a stimulant called caffeine are coffee, cola and tea • Nicotine in tobacco products is also a stimulant • Some are used for medication to treat hyperactivity • Most dangerous of the illegal stimulants is cocaine, amphetamine and methamphetamine

26. Cocaine • Rapid-acting, powerful, highly addictive • Interrupts normal functioning of the central nervous system • Illegal everywhere • White powder extracted from the leaves of the coca plant • Experience a surge of self-confidence and euphoria, a feeling of intense well-being or elation • Regular use can lead to depression, fatigue, paranoia, and physiological dependence • Overuse can lead to cardiac arrest, respiratory failure, seizures and death

27. Crack • More dangerous form of cocaine • AKA crack cocaine, rock or freebase rock • One of the most deadly drugs available • Pure form of cocaine that reaches the brain seconds after being smoked or injected • Causes heart rate and blood pressure to soar to dangerous levels • Death may result from cardiac or respiratory failure • Mixing with alcohol can cause death due to liver failure

28. Amphetamines • Used in prescription medicines to reduce fatigue and drowsiness or to suppress the appetite • Used illegally to stay awake, alert, to improve athletic performance, or to lose weight • Easily develop a tolerance and therefore user can ingest more of the substance • Twitching, irregular heartbeat, paranoia and heart and blood vessel damage

29. Methamphetamine • AKA, Meth • White, odorless powder that easily dissolves in alcohol or water • “Club Drug” • Short term feeling of euphoria • Feeling of intense well-being or elation • Results in depression, paranoia, damage to CNS, increased heart rate and blood pressure, and damage to brain cells • Also causes death

30. Health Risks of Depressants • Sedatives • Drugs that tend to slow down the central nervous system • Relax muscles, relieve feelings of tension and worry and cause drowsiness • Dangerous because they slow the heart rate, lower blood pressure, and interrupt the normal rate of breathing • Most common: alcohol, also includes, barbiturate and tranquilizers, rohypnol and GHB • Cause a synergistic effect

31. Barbiturates • Sedative-hypnotic drug • Drugs that induce sleepiness • Mood changes, sleeping more than normal and coma • Rarely used for medical reasons • Used illegally to produce a feeling of intoxication and to counteract the effects of stimulants • Combining with alcohol can be fatal

32. Tranquilizers • Depressants that reduce muscular activity, coordination, and attention span • Relieve anxiety, muscle spasms, sleeplessness, and nervousness • Overuse can lead to physiological and psychological dependance

33. Rohypnol • Club Drug • Date rape drug • Tablet form and looks like ordinary aspirin • Dissolves in carbonated beverages • The victim will wake up much later with no recollection of what may have happened

34. GHB • Gammahydroxy Butyric Acid • Has been used in date rape crimes • Clear liquid, a white powder, variety of tablets and capsules • Leaves the blood relatively quickly making it hard to tell if there is an overdose

35. Narcotics • Specific drugs derived from the opium plant that are obtainable only by prescription and are used to relieve pain • Morphine, OxyContin, and Codeine • Morphine and codeine relieve pain by blocking pain messengers in the brain • Cause euphoria, drowsiness, constipation, pinpoint pupils, slow and shallow breathing, convulsions, coma and death • Very addictive, pharmacists are required to keep records of all sales

36. Heroin • Highly addictive narcotic • Processed form of morphine that is injected, snorted or smoked • Depresses the CNS and slows breathing and pulse rate • Can cause infection of the heart lining and valves, as well as liver disease • Easily develop tolerance • http://www.drugabuse.gov/infofacts/heroin.html • http://www.justice.gov/ndic/pubs3/3843/index.htm

37. Hallucinogens • Drugs that alter moods, thoughts, and sense perceptions including vision, hearing, smell and touch • No medical use • PCP, LSD, Ketamine, and Ecstasy • Overload the sensory controls in the brain • Brain confuses and intensifies sensations and hallucinates • Impair judgment and reasoning • Increase heart and respiratory rates • Effects are extremely unpredictable • Last for several hours or several days

38. PCP • Most dangerous of all drugs • Effects vary greatly from user to user • Distorted sense of time and space, increase muscle strength and inability to feel pain • Overdose can cause death • Most PCP-related deaths are caused by the destructive behaviors • Flashbacks can occur at any time causing panic, confusion and lack of control

39. LSD • Strong hallucinogen • Severe distorted perceptions of sound and color • Higher doses increase the risk of convulsions, coma, heart and lung failure and even death • Affects brain emotional center and distorts reality • Range of emotions = euphoria to deep depression • Frightening range of emotions long after actual use of the drug

40. Ketamine • Used for medical purposes, mostly in treating animals • Misused as a club drug • White powder to be snorted or injected • Also smoked with marijuana or tobacco • Causes hallucinations and dreamlike states • Result in death due to respiratory failure • Also known as Special K, Vitamin K, Kit Kat, Cat Valium, and Purple • Legal to use on animals • Many of the same effects as PCP • Most teens choose to experiment with it because the effects typically last only an hour

41. Ecstasy and Other Dangerous Drugs • Designer Drugs • synthetic substances meant to imitate the effects of hallucinogens and other dangerous drugs • Can be several hundreds times stronger than the drugs they are meant to imitate • Ecstasy may give a short-term feeling of euphoria • Often causes confusion, depression, paranoia, psychosis, and even long-term damage to brain cells • Also result in uncontrollable tremors, paralysis, and irreversible brain damage

42. Lesson 5 Living Drug Free

43. Commitment to Be Drug Free • Make a firm and deliberate decision • Be fully committed to refusing them • Steer clear of people who do use drugs and places where drugs may be used • Being drug free means being able to enjoy life and deal with challenges and problems in healthful ways • Shows the strength of your values and demonstrates good character and respect for yourself and others

44. Efforts to Curb Drug Abuse • School Efforts • Drug-free school zones: areas within 1,000 feet of schools and designated signs, within which people caught selling drugs receive especially severe penalties • Drug education classes • Zero tolerance policies • Expulsion of students who are caught using • Community Efforts • Drug watches: organized community efforts by neighborhood residents to patrol, monitor, report and otherwise try to stop drug deals and drug abuse • Choosing Healthy Alternatives

45. Becoming Drug Free • Never too late • Admitting that there is a problem • Getting help • Overcoming the problem • Individual counseling, support groups, or drug treatment centers

46. Warning Signs of Drug Use • Gets drunk or high regularly, is often hung-over • Lies about the drugs he or she is using or constantly talk about drugs • Stops participating in activities that once were an important part of his or her life • Changes eating or sleeping habits, shows rapid weight loss • Has difficulty concentrating • Takes unnecessary risks or participates in unsafe behaviors • Gets in trouble with authorities, such as school administrators or police • Seems withdrawn, depressed, tired, and cares less about personal grooming and appearance • Has red-rimmed eyes and runny nose not related to cold or allergies • Has “blackouts” and forgets what he or she did while under the influence

47. Getting Help • Drug abuse is a treatable condition • Support groups, counseling services and treatment centers • For teens the first step to getting help is to talk to a parent, teacher, school counselor, health care provider or another trusted adult • Toll free hotlines or drug treatment center

48. Treatment Centers • Outpatient Drug-Free Treatment • Programs usually do not include medications and often consist of individual or group counseling • Short-Term Treatment • Centers can include residential, medication, and outpatient therapies • Maintenance Therapy • Intended for heroin addicts, this treatment usually includes medication therapy • Therapeutic Communities • Residencies for people with a long history of drug abuse, highly structured programs that usually last from 6 to 12 months