How Does Cocaine Affect The Human Body

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Drugs surround us in our everyday life. Whether it be to cure a disease, or for one’s own recreational purposes there is simple no escaping drugs. Drugs have been used throughout history and throughout time these drugs have evolved into having different purposes. Cocaine at one point in time had a purpose for curing headaches, and it was not just for one’s own recreational use. Cocaine is glamorized on television and movies to be this really amazing drug, and they really never show what cocaine actually does. Cocaine effects the human body in more ways than one may realize. Such things like physiological and psychological impacts and others like being exposed to different diseases are all things everyone should be aware of when it comes …show more content…
Stimulants make a person feel as though they have an abundance of energy, when they really should be tired (“Stimulants”, 2015). Someone might think that cocaine would be a wonderful thing because it gives them this energy they did not have before. When in reality, cocaine has many harmful impacts on the human body. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, cocaine can cause some short term physiological impacts such as constricted blood vessels, dilated pupils, increased body temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure (“Short-Term
Effects”, 2016). Although some of these might not sound so severe, these short term physiological impacts can turn into long term physiological impacts such as loss of sense of smell, problems with swallowing, damage to vital organs such as the lungs, irregular heartbeat, and increased risk of strokes (“Long-Term Effects”, 2016). Not only does cocaine affect
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It is important to recognize the signs of cocaine addiction because in the end it could save someone’s life. It is important to encourage someone with an addiction to seek help, but one cannot force someone to get help. They have to be willing to accept the help and realize that they do need it. Once someone wants help with their addiction, there are treatment options for them. One treatment option for someone with a cocaine addiction is drug rehabilitation. This attacks the problem head on and find ways to deal and treat the addiction. Rehabilitation however, is only a short term solution for something that is going to take longer to cure than when they are in there. Another kind of treatment is drug detoxification under the supervision of a doctor. With this comes withdraw symptoms. A doctor may prescribe an antidepressant to help with anxiety and depression, benzodiazepines to help reverse anxiety induced cocaine withdrawal, or bromocriptine to help decrease the craving for cocaine (“Cocaine Detoxification”, 2014) This again is only a short term solution. As of now, there is no magical drug that can completely cure cocaine addiction. Relapse is still very possible even with any kind of treatment. Being supportive and caring for someone with

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