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METH AND THE BRAIN

METH AND THE BRAIN. Speed Really Does Kill. The damage to the brain is likely much worse.

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METH AND THE BRAIN

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  1. METH AND THE BRAIN Speed Really Does Kill. by Doug Richardson

  2. The damage to the brain is likely much worse.

  3. Of all the debilitating addictions that tax the resources of our society and our souls, perhaps none are more destructive than the methamphetemine plague currently sweeping the country. The sheer toxicity of the chemicals used to manufacture meth require haz-mat suits to clean up the mess when a lab gets busted. Yet, these same toxic chemicals are what people are using to get high with!

  4. METH CAUSES… • Dopamine dumping in the synaptic space which interferes with serotonin reuptake in the striata and hippocampus. • Hyperthermia or overheating of the brain which facilitates these activities. • The destruction of dopamine transporters. These affects are only partially reversible.

  5. METH CAUSES (cont.) • Roughly 7 days after initial (and/or only) use, the enzymes necessary for serotonin reuptake lose their capacity to bind to “used” serotonin. • Experimental drug regimens designed to reduce or deplete dopamine levels did so, but serotonin reuptake did not increase proportionately.

  6. EFFECTS OF HYPERTHERMIA… • Meth-induced hyperthermia is to the brain as running a car engine at high RPM with low oil. • Research indicates a significant increase in brain metabolism focused in the parietal cortex which regulates sensation, and coordinates information on space and spatial relations.

  7. MORE HYPERTHERMIA… • Inflammation throughout the brain causes membrane damage, destroys nerve endings, and obviously kills brain cells. • According to one researcher, the presence of inflammation in his research subjects indicated “physical injury” to the whole brain.

  8. AND MORE HYPERTHERMIA… • Facilitates the dopamine dumping which is at the core of long-term consequences discussed later. • Coupled with the dopamine dumping, hyperthermia “ages” the brain to the extent that years of use equals decades of brain degeneration.

  9. A PICTURE OF THE SYNAPSE REGION

  10. DOPAMINE IS: • A chemical messenger that causes one to feel “good” or “satisfied”. An enzyme (transporter) takes the dopamine back to cell of origin to terminate the signal. • When dopamine stays in the synaptic space, it degenerates (shelf life?) into a level of nuerotoxicity that has its’ own nasty little side affects.

  11. OTHER AFFECTS… • Dumping of dopamine and reduction of transporters does what appears to this point to be irreversible damage to the striatum: the part of the brain that controls movement, attention and motivation. • There is also damage, though partially reversible, to memory, cognition and motor function.

  12. DOPAMINE IS IN RED

  13. PARKINSON’S? As mentioned earlier, the chaos going on in the synaptic space coupled with hyperthermia “ages” the brain with its’ own accelerated metabolism. PET scans reveal this damage looks exactly like Parkinson’s disease: a severe movement disorder manifested by tremors and weakness and seen in such people as Muhammad Ali, and Michael J. Fox.

  14. RESEARCH One of the greatest barriers facing research into the long-term effects of Meth aside from the comparative newness of this malady is the addictive qualities of Meth are such that keeping clients clean long enough to do the quantitative research necessary to draw meaningful conclusions is a challenge unto itself.

  15. RESEARCH (cont.) • Limited research has shown that prolonged abstinence leads to fairly normal levels of dopamine-related function. However, motor and cognitive skill do NOT parallel this recovery. • Normal metabolism (post-hyperthermia) returns to some parts of the brain while other parts have REDUCED metabolism.

  16. THIS COULD BE YOU

  17. PSYCHOSIS A Japanese study has found that folks with genetically limited dopamine transporters (nine or fewer repeat alleles in VNTR polymorphism of transporter gene) face a significant chance of permanent psychosis due to their limited capacity to clean the synaptic space creating nuerotoxicity by auto-oxidation of the dopamine. A condition that exists prior to Meth use. All it takes is one dosage.

  18. PROGNOSIS The outlook for Meth users is not good, and given the ingredients, not surprising. No one knows for sure what the results will be twenty or thirty years from now, but it would appear to be a diminished brain highly susceptible to Parkinson’s disease. It appears we have found a drug that matches huffing for toxic effects.

  19. PROGNOSIS As with all addictions, the internal damage is only the tip of the iceberg. It would be hard to quantify the spiritual, emotional, physical, intellectual, volitional, and social damage done to the addict and those around them. Meth is exactly what it is made of; poisonous and hazardous material.

  20. REFERENCES • The Pharmacological Journal. www.nature.com/tpj • Brookhaven Natl. Lab. www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/pubaf/pr/2001/bnlpr030101.htm. • www.drugabuse.gov/NIDA_Notes/NNVOL17N1/Methamphetamine.htm. • Journal of Neurochemistry. Nov. 2000 (75) 4. • http://www.dpna.org/resources/research/ex-meth.html

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