AccuDiagnostics

Posts Tagged ‘cocaine’

Stress, a new study has said, can precipitate a low mood leading to relapse in cocaine seeking.

The research team from University of Washington (UW) has shown that stress evoked changes in circuits, which regulated serotonin in certain parts of the brain that precipitates a low mood and a relapse in cocaine-seeking.

“The impetus for this research was our interest in how stress alters the brain’s cell receptors and protein signals in ways that lead to mood changes, depression, anxiety, and drug seeking,” said Dr. Michael Bruchas, acting instructor of pharmacology at the University of Washington (UW).

“Stress appears to be a motivator for the relapse in drug seeking,” said researcher Dr. Benjamin Land, a former UW doctoral student now in the Department of Psychiatry at Yale University.

“They feel crummy so they go where there might be something that will make them feel okay again,” Land added.

They head to a spot that had the drug available in the past, an action researchers call cocaine place preference.

It is believed that drug seeking is regulated by dopamine, a chemical nerve signal associated with motivating and rewarding behaviour.

Dopamine may still have a key role, the researchers noted, which is why they were surprised to find harmful effects of stress converging in a brain region- the dorsal raphe nucleus –where nerve cells that use serotonin, a chemical nerve signal that has been associated with wake and sleep cycles, mood, anger, status and aggression, are abundant.

These nerve cells also project to other structures found on either side of the brain – the nucleus accumbens – which are thought to play roles in feeding and drug addiction.

The researchers revealed that the dynorphin/kappa opioid system, found in certain brain cells, can be activated either through repeated stress or by giving a chemical that triggers a receptor on the cells. Activation of this system produces what is called conditioned place aversion in mice. They avoid smells, locations or tactile sensations similar to those present during a troubling experience.

Research suggests that this response is mediated by the stress-evoked release of dynorphins, the “feel bad” brain signals.

Scientists had previously proposed that an activated dynorphin/kappa opioid receptor system stopped the release of dopamine and thereby made the mice feel miserable enough to cause aversions.

When scientists inactivated the kappa opioid receptors involved in the serotonin system they were able to block both the aversive responses and the stress-induced reinstatement of cocaine-place preference.

The study appears in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Drug and Alcohol Testing

Teen drug and alcohol statistics are alarming with 1.8 million kids age 12 and over currently using cocaine, which is a stimulant affecting the central nervous system. Cocaine can cause hallucinations, itching and paranoid delusions with prolonged use. Twenty percent of kids in the 8th grade have tried marijuana, which is a mixture of being a stimulant, depressant or hallucinogen. Long-term use can cause respiratory problems, depression, anxiety and psychosis. Prescription drug use is increasing, because many teens think they are safer to use. However, prescription drugs are more addictive and have more severe side effects. Alcohol use among teens costs the U.S. $58 billion every year. Kids, who started drinking at age thirteen, 40% will develop alcohol dependence. Teens, who drank after the age of seventeen, 10% of them will abuse alcohol. Teens are 50 times more likely to use cocaine if they drink.

Alcohol kills more teenagers 6 ½ times more than illicit drugs. It is important to talk to teens about the dangers of drugs and alcohol regularly, because 42 percent of kids are less likely to use if parents talk to them about it compared to those teens whose parents never did.

Parents may find a need to have their teens tested for drugs and alcohol. AccuDiagnostics can meet those needs and minimize the damage to a parent-child relationship from having them tested. Taking your teen to a professional facility like AccuDiagnostics, this will prevent damaging misunderstandings and false accusations. Plus, teens won’t be able to cheat on the drug test, because the rooms where urine samples are collected are free of adulterants.

AccuDiagnostics have review services where drug tests can be evaluated and the cause of a positive result can be researched. Your child may be drug-free, but come back with a positive drug test from something they ate or from medication they are taking. Poppy seeds will produce a positive result for opiates, ADHD medicine will show on a drug test as methamphetamines and marijuana stays in a person’s system for up to a month. By having a drug test performed at AccuDiagnostics, every effort is made to preserve the parent-child relationship.

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Information is provided for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. AccuDiagnostics does not engage in the practice of medicine. The information provided should not be used to diagnose or treat any medical condition. Readers are urged to consult a licensed physician before starting or stopping any medical treatment. Any action by the reader in response to this information is at their discretion, and AccuDiagnostics can in no way be held liable for such action.

Well-known energy drink label Red Bull has put the ‘cocaine‘ back in the ‘cola.’ Just a few weeks ago, Germany’s Health Institute of North Rhine Westphalia discovered that the brand name’s ‘Simply Cola’  beverage contained trace amounts of cocaine.

With a tiny 0.13 micrograms per can, Red Bull issued a confident statement asserting that the cola-flavored drink is “harmless and marketable in both the US and Europe.”

While Germany’s Federal Institute for Risk Assessment concurs that the cocaine level is too low to pose a health risk, the beverage has been banned in six German states. The Health Institute, who originally conducted the test, states that a consumer would have to drink 12,000 liters of Red Bull Cola for any adverse effects to be felt.

Austria’s Health Ministry has agreed with Germany’s findings, conducting independent tests just a week after the reports surfaced in Germany. Although the drink is considered safe, it violated the law as cocaine is not a legally permitted ingredient.

Similar tests have been conducted across the globe, resulting in bans of the beverage in Jordan, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Sally Wong, Hong Kong’s commissioner for narcotics, said the government is exploring legal liability for importers and retailers, as “cocaine is a dangerous drug. The possession and dealing of the drug is a criminal offense.”

It is still readily available across the United States at this time.

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Information is provided for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. AccuDiagnostics does not engage in the practice of medicine. The information provided should not be used to diagnose or treat any medical condition. Readers are urged to consult a licensed physician before starting or stopping any medical treatment. Any action by the reader in response to this information is at their discretion, and AccuDiagnostics can in no way be held liable for such action.