Prescription Drugs of Abuse

STIMULANTSAriel

ChristopherJulie

Brownell

What is Prescription drug Abuse?

Prescription drug abuse1 is the use of a medication without a prescription, in a way other than as prescribed, or for the experience or feelings elicited. According to several national surveys, prescription medications, such as those used to treat pain, attention deficit disorders, and anxiety, are being abused at a rate second only to marijuana among illicit drug users. The consequences of this abuse have been steadily worsening, reflected in increased treatment admissions, emergency room visits, and overdose deaths. For the purpose of this report we are focusing on prescription stimulants (NIDA).

Stimulants• Stimulants are a class of psychoactive drug that

increase activity in the brain. These drugs can temporarily elevate alertness, mood and awareness. While some stimulant drugs are legal and widely used, all can be addicting. ( nicotine, caffeine) Stimulants share many commonalities, but each has unique properties and mechanisms of action.

• Stimulant medications work by speeding up the messages going between the brain and body through an increase in the activity of the central nervous system and enhancing the effects of Dopamine in the brain, the neurotransmitter responsible for feelings of pleasure and norepinephrine.

What is Dopamine?• Dopamine is both a neurotransmitter and a

neurohormone that is produced in several different areas of the brain. Dopamine has a part in many important functions in the brain, playing a role in cognition, punishment, motivation, attention, mood, sleep, voluntary movement, learning and working memory and also to feelings of reward and pleasure. This is why stimulant medication is given to children and adults suffering from ADHD as it helps to regulate impulsive behavior and improve attention span and focus by increasing the levels of certain chemicals such as dopamine and norepinephrine which help transmit signals between nerves.

Ways Drugs Can FundamentallyAlter Neural Or Brain Function

• Drugs can interact with systems regulating these basic drive states through effects on receptors in the brain and neural circuitry

• Drugs can capture control of brain mechanisms that control motivations and emotions (i.e., Basic drives, such as anger, fear, anxiety, pain, and depression).

Neurotransmitters & Addiction

• Dopamine, one example of a neurotransmitter, is correlated with: “highs” elicited by addictive drugs (i.e. cocaine)• cravings in withdrawal

• Dopamine is activated in a “reward system”• Drugs of abuse activate the same reward

system, - increasing or decreasing dopamine• Learned emotional reactions are created

contributing to drug addiction…

Nucleus accumbens –one site for dopamine release• The main target of

the reinforcing effects of stimulantsis the nucleus accumbens• Alcohol, morphine, and

nicotine also exert some of their reinforcing effectsvia the nucleusaccumbens

The "reward pathway" in the brain that isactivated by natural rewards and by artificialrewards such as addictive drugs. – JanetFirshein

Stimulants

How they are Taken Injected-Liquid Snorted-Powder form Smoked- Crystals, Liquid Oral-Capsules, tablets• Desired Side

Effects• Make people feel

energetic, confident with a high sense of positive feelings like love, happiness and gratitude. They are used to increase performance in work home school or sports.

StimulantsUnwanted Side Effects• Heart palpitations • Increased respiration• Higher blood

pressure • Headaches• Reduced appetite• Irritability• Dry mouth• Sweating• Dilated Pupils

Long Term Side Effects• Sleeping disorders

insomnia• Anxiety-depression• Mental Issues-

• paranoia,• High blood

pressure• aggression

• Irregular heart beat• Malnutrition

Overdose And DeathStroke

Heart attackComa

Seizure

Stimulant Medications

These psychotropic medications stimulate the central nervous system (CNS) by boosting the release of certain chemicals in the brain and are the most commonly prescribed for ADHD, Narcolepsy, depression (when all other antidepressants fail) and to quell hunger in obese patients. ADHD is treated with stimulant medication to increase the neurotransmitter dopamine in the brain particularly in the prefrontal cortex along with therapy and education

Stimulant MedicationsAdderall (dextroamphetamine

and amphetamine)• Is a racemic mixture of d-and

1-amphetamine that seems to be effective in treating ADHD. The different isomers have different properties and complementary in combination. According to the first empirical studies performed using Adderall have suggested that Adderall has a longer half life than Ritalin and it may enable the use of a singe dose to cover most of a child's school day.

Ritalin (methylphenidate)

• Most commonly prescribed has several limitations. After taking orally drug is readily absorbed; its clinical effects appear within 1 hour and last r hours and have a half life of 3 hours thus multiple doses per day are required.

How are Stimulant medications abused?• Prescription stimulants are normally taken in pill

form, but some people who abuse them crush the tablets and snort or inject them,

• which can cause complications because insoluble fillers in the tablets can block small blood vessels.

• Stimulants have been abused for both “performance enhancement” (e.g., to stay up all night cramming for an exam) and to get high.

Cognitive Enhancers• Dramatic increase in stimulant prescriptions over the last 2

decades• Properly diagnosed and taking stimulant medication can greatly

enhance a person’s quality of life.• However, prescription stimulants, are increasingly being abused in

nonmedical conditions or situations because of there perceived safety.

• among academic professionals,• athletes, • performers, • older people, • both high school and college students. • nonmedical cognitive enhancement poses potential health

risks, including • addiction, • cardiovascular events,• psychosis.

What are the consequences of stimulant abuse?• As with other drugs of abuse stimulants are no

different it is possible for individuals to become addicted. Withdrawal symptoms associated with discontinuing stimulant use include fatigue, depression and disturbance of sleep patterns. Repeated abuse of some stimulants can lead to feelings of hostility or paranoia, even psychosis. Further, taking high doses may result in dangerously high body temperature and irregular heartbeat. Also are potential for cardiovascular failure or seizures.

How many people abuse prescription drugs?

• According to results from the 2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health(NSDUH), an estimated 2.4 million Americans used prescription drugs nonmedical for the first time within the past year which averages to approximately 6,600 initiates per day. More than half were females and one third were aged 12-17.

2.9 Million Initiates of illicit Drugs

Increase in Emergency Room Visits 2005-2010 DAWN

Emergency Room VisitsNon medical use of Adderall increases from 2005-10

DAWN Report

Increase in nonmedical use of Adderall increased from 2005-10 in ages 18 and older

Drug use is highest in late teens-twenties