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Cocaine Addiction
Medical Questions » Cocaine Addiction
| Name: Cocaine Addiction |
| Also known as: Crack |
| Naturally derived addictive substance that is available as a white crystalline powder, and can be administered by sniffing it into the nostrils (most common), injection into a vein, or smoking. Usually diluted with sugars such as lactose and glucose to less than 50% purity. ' Crack' is a concentrated form of cocaine. |
Causes of Cocaine Addiction
Cocaine is a stimulant that is used in medicine as a local anesthetic and constrictor of blood vessels. It is manufactured from the leaves of the coca plant which is native to South America. Users tend to be depressed and have a poor self-image and ego. Possibly one in every 100 people is dependent upon illicit drugs in western society, and a far higher percentage have experimented with them at one time or another. |
Symptoms of Cocaine Addiction
Effect is only brief, and causes mood enhancement, increased energy and generalized stimulation of all senses. With continued use, the duration of the pleasant effects becomes shorter and shorter, requiring further doses every 15 to 30 minutes to maintain the desired effect. |
Tests for Cocaine Addiction
Blood and urine tests can detect the presence of cocaine. |
Treatment for Cocaine Addiction
The treatment options available are:
1. Gradual withdrawal while receiving counseling and medical support
2. Immediate drug withdrawal (' cold turkey' ) while hospitalized
3. Half-way houses that remove the patient from the environment in which drug taking is encouraged
4. Individual or group psychotherapy.
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Complications of Cocaine Addiction of its treatment
Adverse effects of the drug include a high fever (which may cause brain damage and death), high blood pressure (which may cause strokes), reduction of the desire to breath (which may stop breathing completely and cause death), irregular heart beats (which may cause a heart attack), delusions, paranoia, hallucinations, insomnia and convulsions (which may lead to loss of consciousness and unintentional self-injury). |
Likely Outcome of Cocaine Addiction
Reasonably good. Not as addictive as heroin, but more than marijuana. |
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