Everything you need to know about cocaine

Recreational use

As a recreational drug, cocaine is known as powder, snow, ski, soft, blow, slopes, coca, marching powder, benzoylmethylecgonine, and nose candy.

It is normally found as a white, crystalline powder or as an off-white, chunky substance.

In powder form, it usually consists of cocaine hydrochloride diluted with other substances, such as lidocaine, a local anesthetic, sugars (lactose), inositol, and mannitol.

Diluting the cocaine enables the seller to make more profit by "stretching" the amount of pure cocaine they have to sell.

Cocaine can be taken by:

• Snorting or inhaling through the nose. It enters the bloodstream via the nasal tissues
• Injecting, which releases it directly into the bloodstream
• Smoking or inhaled into the lungs, where it rapidly enters the bloodstream

What is crack?

Crack is the street name for a type of cocaine that has had the hydrochloride removed, making it possible to smoke.

When the mixture is heated, it makes a crackling sound, hence the name. Crack producers make crack with baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) or ammonia and water, and it is heated to remove the hydrochloride.

The crack smoker receives large doses of cocaine. The effect is intense and virtually immediate, as with injected cocaine, but the "high" lasts only around 5 minutes.

Effects

Cocaine has a very powerful stimulating effect on the nervous system. It raises levels of dopamine, a neurotransmitter linked to pleasure, movement, and the brain's reward circuit.

Normally, neurons release dopamine in response to a pleasurable stimulus, such as the smell of good food. Once the dopamine has passed on its message, it returns inside the neuron, and the signal stops.

Cocaine stops the dopamine from getting back into the neuron, so it accumulates and continues to sendTrusted Source the pleasurable message to the brain.

The excess dopamine gives the user a feeling of enhanced well-being, euphoria, alertness, motor activity, and energy.

The effects generally last between 15 and 30 minutes, but shorter with crack.

 Source: Medical News Today

The reasons why smoking is bad for you

Smoking causes damage to nearly every organ in the body and is directly responsible for a number of diseases.

Every year, more than 480,000 people die in the United States (U.S.) due to tobacco-related diseases. That is around 1 in 5 of all deaths in the U.S. annually. It is estimated that 1 in 2 smokers will die from a smoking-related disease.

Smoking causes more deaths in the U.S. each year than the following combinedTrusted Source:

• alcohol use
• firearm-related incidents
• HIV
• illegal drug use
• motor vehicle incidents

Smoking shortens the life of a male by about 12 years and the life of a female by around 11 years.

Two poisons in tobacco that affect peoples' health are:

• Carbon monoxide is found in car exhaust fumes and is fatal in large doses. It replaces oxygen in the blood and starves organs of oxygen and stops them being able to function properly.
• Tar is a sticky, brown substance that coats the lungs and affects breathing.

Smoking affects many different areas of the body. Below, we cover each part of the body in turn:

Brain

Smoking can increase the likelihood of having a stroke by 2 to 4 times. Strokes can cause brain damage and death.

One way that stroke can cause brain injury is through a brain aneurysm, which occurs when the wall of the blood vessel weakens and creates a bulge. This bulge can then burst and lead to a serious condition called a subarachnoid hemorrhage.

Bones

Smoking can make bones weak and brittle, which is particularly dangerous for womenTrusted Source, who are more prone to osteoporosis and broken bones.

Cardiovascular system

Smoking causes plaque to build up in the blood. Plaque sticks to the walls of arteries (atherosclerosis), making them narrower; this reduces blood flow and increases the risk of clotting.

Smoking also narrows the arteries, making it harder for blood to flow, as well as increasing blood pressure and heart rate.

Also, chemicals in tobacco smoke increase the chance of heart problems and cardiovascular diseases.

Some of the most common are:

• Coronary heart disease - narrow or blocked arteries around the heart. It is among the leading causes of deathTrusted Source in the U.S.
• Heart attack - smokers are twice as likely to have a heart attack.
• Heart-related chest pain.

Carbon monoxide and nicotine in cigarettes make the heart work harder and faster; this means that smokers will find it more difficult to exercise.

Even smokers who smoke 5 or fewerTrusted Source cigarettes a day can have early signs of cardiovascular disease.

Immune system

The immune system protects the body against infection and disease. Smoking compromises this and can lead to autoimmune diseases, such as Crohn's disease and rheumatoid arthritis.

Smoking has also been linked to type 2 diabetes.

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Lungs

Smoking can cause a variety of lung problems.

Perhaps the most obvious part of the body affected by smoking is the lungs. In fact, smoking can impact the lungs in a number of different ways.

Primarily, smoking damages the airways and air sacs (known as alveoli) in the lungs.

Often, lung disease caused by smoking can take years to become noticeable, this means it is often not diagnosed until it is quite advanced.

There are many lung and respiratory problems caused by smoking; below are three of the most common in the American population:

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD): This is a long-term disease that worsens over time. It causes wheezing, shortness of breath, and chest tightness. It is the third leading cause of death in the U.S. There is no cure.

Chronic bronchitis: This occurs when the airways produce too much mucus, leading to a cough. The airways then become inflamed, and the cough is long-lasting. In time, scar tissue and mucus can completely block the airways and cause infection. There is no cure, but quitting smoking can reduce symptoms.

Emphysema: This is a type of COPD that reduces the number of sacs in the lungs and breaks down the walls in between. This destroys the person's ability to breathe, even when resting. In the latter stages, patients often can only breathe using an oxygen mask. There is no cure, and it cannot be reversed.

Other diseases caused by smoking include pneumonia, asthma, and tuberculosis.

 Source: Medical News Today

What are the complications of addiction?

Addiction is a complicated disease involving an inability to stop taking a substance or carrying out a particularly damaging behavior. It can lead to a range of adverse psychological, physiological, and personal effects.

The complications of addiction often depend on the type of substance or behavior. Sex addiction, for example, greatly increases the risk of sexual behaviors that could lead to sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).

Injecting intravenous (IV) drugs using non-sterilized needles can lead to the transmission of hepatitis C, HIV, and other harmful infections.

It is very often not one type of complication that disrupts the daily the life of a person with addiction. These factors often feed each other and work in tandem to create health risks.

Physical complications

Overusing mood- or physiology-altering substances can cause damage in a number of ways.

Direct effects of substances: For example, snorting cocaine through the nose can damage nasal cartilage, and taking opiates can lead to opiate-induced constipation, a chronic and potentially fatal form of constipation if a person does not receive treatment.

Regular tobacco use can cause a range of cancers and smoking methamphetamine might fuel a severe form of dental decay known as "meth mouth".

Injury: This can occur during the administration of a drug, depending on the method. For example, injecting heroin with a needle can lead to skin and muscle damage at the point of injection, and many people take drugs by smoking, causing lung damage and respiratory illnesses.

Injury can also occur while intoxicated. Often, drug use impairs co-ordination and balance and can lead to falls and injuries. Driving while under the influence of alcohol and other drugs is criminal in most countries and caused 28 percentTrusted Source of all deaths related to traffic across the United States in 2016.

Some substances induce violent reactions in people and increase the likelihood of risky or confrontational behaviors.

Overdose: Taking too much of one substance or mixing substances together can result in an overdose. While this can also occur with medications and pharmaceuticals, it is more likely to occur in a person who takes a substance to alter their mood or for recreational purposes.

An overdose can result in coma and death. On average, 115 people in the United States die every day by overdosing on opioid painkillers.

Cardiovascular health: Many substances lead to spikes in blood pressure and heart rate, placing strain on the heart and blood vessels and increasing the risk of stroke, heart attack, and death.

Loss of hygiene and routine: Addiction can become an all-encompassing feature in a person's life, and reward systems in the brain can rewire to prioritize the substance or behavior at the root of the addiction over nutrition, resolving stressful situations, and hygiene.

Addiction can also mean that a person dedicates large sums of money each month to obtaining the substance, increasing the risk of poor nutrition.

In some cases, addiction can lead to homelessness, greatly reducing protection and resources and increasing exposure to the elements.

Fetal damage: If a woman takes substances while pregnant, this can lead to congenital anomalies or even death in the fetus.

Psychological complications

Drugs have a two-way relationship with mental health. Mental health issues, such as depression and anxiety, might occur ahead of addiction.

However, drug use can also set off the symptoms of these conditions as well as causing them to develop when they were not present before.

Addiction not only impairs a range of bodily functions but also changes the way a person thinks. Drug use alters how some brain circuits work.

Psychoactive substances: Many drugs directly cause hallucinations and longer-term psychological effects that can lead to severe mental health problems.

Excessive use of LSD, for example, might result in a slipping handle on reality and drug-induced psychosis.

Depression: A 2014 study linked lifetime use of a number of different substances to increased levels of depression.

Anxiety, restlessness, guilt, and shame can also result from prolonged substance dependency and behavioral addiction.

Loneliness: People with addiction tend to push away the people closest to them and this removes or drastically reduces an individual's support network when they need it the most.

This can fuel further drug use and push people with addiction towards the more severe complications.

Adverse circumstances: Drug addiction might lead people to financial problems, homelessness, criminal activity, and prison. Deteriorating personal circumstances increase stress levels, depression, anxiety, and other mental health conditions.

Suicide: A 2015 studyTrusted Source showed that six times as many people who regularly misuse opiates attempt suicide as people who do not misuse opiates. The rate of death by suicide was two to three times higher in people who had a dependency on opiates.

People use certain drugs as a way to attempt suicide, such as heroin. When the effects of the drugs themselves combine with resulting or underlying psychological difficulties, the results can be lethal.

Source: Medical News Today

Are stem cells and regenerative medicine living up to their promises?

Stem cell therapy's concept is deceptively simple: take cells from a donor and put them into a patient to treat a disease or injury. However, the reality falls far short of the dream.

Regenerative medicine makes use of cells, biomaterials, and molecules to fix structures in the body that do not function properly due to disease or injury.

What sets regenerative medicine apart from many traditional drugs is that the latter mostly treat symptoms, whereas the former aims to treat the root cause of a patient's condition by replacing lost cells or organs, or by fixing a faulty gene.

The allure of regenerative medicine promises to redefine medical treatment, putting stem cells and biocompatible materials center stage in this revolution. Many breakthroughs have been reported and hailed in scientific journals and the media over the years.

However, the number of regenerative medicine treatments in medical use today is disappointingly low, and a panel of commissioners criticizes this lack of progress in a reportTrusted Source published last week in The Lancet.

In fact, according to Prof. Giulio Cossu - from the Division of Cell and Matrix Biology & Regenerative Medicine at the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom - and his fellow commissioners, only a handful of breakthroughs have made it to patients, and private clinics are cashing in on patients' desperate search for treatments by offering unproven therapies.

Why have so many promises of new therapies fallen short? And what will it take for society to benefit from the immense potential that regenerative medicine holds?

What is regenerative medicine?

The commissioners say in their report that regenerative medicine "aims to replace or repair human cells, or regenerate tissue or organs to restore normal function." The emphasis on "normal function" sets this approach to medical treatments apart from many commonly used drugs, which tend to treat symptoms but do not address the underlying causes.

"Cell therapies and regenerative medicine, with their potential to improve the health of patients, represent a structural shift in healthcare by focusing on the underlying causes of disease by repairing, replacing, or regenerating damaged cells in the body," the authors explain.

For example, an individual with type 1 diabetes cannot produce insulin. Instead, daily insulin injections are required to keep blood sugar levels in check.

Regenerative medicine seeks to solve this by regenerating the islets of Langerhans, which allow the individual to make insulin. This would mean no more insulin injections and a return to normal sugar metabolism.

While the treatment of type 1 diabetes in this way is not yet a reality, there are some areas of regenerative medicine that are well established in medical practice.

Early successes

The earliest form of cell therapy was the transfusion of blood, which is commonplace in most clinical settings nowadays.

Next on the list was the transplantation of bone marrow, giving patients with radiation damage or blood cancers a chance to make new, healthy blood cells using the donor's bone marrow stem cells.

Cell therapy using a patient's own cells is also used in cases of severe burn and scald injuries, when a patient does not have a sufficient amount of undamaged skin for skin graft treatment.

Here, skin cells are isolated from a small biopsy and expanded in a specialized laboratory. Millions of cells can be grown in a relatively short time and transplanted onto the burn wound to speed up healing.

But despite these successes and the fact that scientists around the world are furiously working on new therapies, regenerative medicine treatments have not entered mainstream medical practice in most areas of medicine.

According to the report in The Lancet, "the potential exists to substantially reduce the burden of disease for some common conditions (e.g., stroke, heart disease, progressive neurological conditions, autoimmune diseases, and trauma)."

And, "As well as increasing life expectancy, regenerative medicine therapies could greatly improve the health-related quality of life of many patients with chronic diseases."

So, what is holding back these developments?

From research to medical practice

An army of scientists from around the world is working on new regenerative medicine solutions to common diseases and injuries.

In the past year alone, Medical News Today reported on a chip technology that can change one cell type into another and heal entire organs, a new method of spray painting biomaterials onto damaged hearts using minimally invasive surgery, and a growth factor that might reverse osteoporosis.Top of Form

Source: Medical News Today

Board games may stave off cognitive decline

New research examines the impact of non-digital games, such as board games and cards, on the cognitive ability of older adults.

Games aren't just fun; they can keep our minds agile and sharp. At least this seems to be the main takeaway of a host of recent studies that point to the cognitive benefits of video games.For instance, some researchers have suggested that just 1 hour of gaming can improve attention, and some studies have shown that games that involve shooting, in particular, can improve cognition.

When it comes to older adults, the benefits of computer games seem to be even greater. From brain training apps that may prevent mild cognitive impairment to 3D video games that may reverse age-related cognitive decline, playing games on a computer seems to offer many benefits.

But what about analog games? Is it just computer games that benefit the brain health of older adults, or can non-digital games, such as cards, board games, or crossword puzzles, also affect cognition?

Researchers at the University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom set out to investigate.

Drew Altschul, from the School of Philosophy, Psychology, and Language Sciences, co-authored the new paper together with Professor Ian Deary, who is the director of the Edinburgh Lothian Birth Cohorts.

The study appears in The Journals of Gerontology.

Studying non-digital games and cognition

Altschul and Deary examined 1,091 participants who were born in 1936 and whose data they accessed from the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 — a study that evaluated the mental and cognitive capacities of its participants over a long period.

Researchers first assessed the participants' cognitive function when they were 11 years old, and then later on at ages 70, 73, 76, and 79 using 14 standardized cognitive tests.

AS PART OF THE NEW STUDY, THE SCIENTISTS ASKED THE PARTICIPANTS HOW OFTEN THEY PLAYED BOARD GAMES, CARDS, CHESS, BINGO, OR CROSSWORDS AT AGES 70 AND 76.

As part of their statistical analysis, the researchers accounted for possible confounding factors, such as "early-life cognitive function, education, social class, sex, activity levels, and health issues."

The analysis found that people who played more games in their 70s were more likely to maintain healthy cognitive function in their older years.

Play games to reduce cognitive decline

Specifically, those who reported playing more analog games in their 70s experienced less relative cognitive decline from the age of 11 until 70, and less cognitive decline between 70 and 79.

"These latest findings add to evidence that being more engaged in activities during the life course might be associated with better thinking skills in later life," comments Altschul.

The co-author also thinks it is possible to interpret the results as a nudge to start playing some games in order to prevent cognitive decline.

 Source: Medical News Today

Stem cell discovery could improve treatments for leukemia, other diseases

The inability to get human blood stem cells, or hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), to self-renew in the laboratory is holding back progress in treating leukemia and other blood diseases.

Now, a new study from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) suggests that the answer may lie in a particular protein — the activation of which can greatly expand HSCs in culture.

The UCLA team found that a protein called MLLT3 is a key regulator of HSC function. The protein is present at high levels in the HSCs of human fetuses, newborns, and adults. However, cultured HSCs have low levels of MLLT3.

In a recent Nature paper, the researchers report how manipulating the gene responsible for making the protein led to a "more than 12-fold expansion of transplantable" HSCs.

The senior author of the study paper is Hanna K. A. Mikkola, a professor of molecular, cell, and developmental biology at UCLA. She has been studying HSCs for more than 20 years.

"Although we've learned a lot about the biology of these cells over the years," says Mikkola, "one key challenge has remained: making [HSCs] self-renew in the lab."

"We have to overcome this obstacle to move the field forward," she adds.

HSCs need powerful ability to self-replicate

All tissues and cells of the body rely on blood cells for nourishment and protection. To fulfill such a relentless and onerous task, blood cells must be able to replenish themselves. In adults, blood cells and skin cells have the greatest replenishment capacity of any tissue.

The job of making new blood cells falls to HSCs. Every day, the human body makes billions of new blood cells, thanks to HSCs, which also make immune cells.

HSCs reside in bone marrow, where they self-renew and mature into different types of blood and immune cells.

People with certain diseases of the blood or immune system — such as leukemia — need fresh supplies of HSCs to make new cells. For decades, doctors have used bone marrow transplants to boost their supplies.

However, there are limits on the extent to which bone marrow transplants can offer a solution. For instance, it is not always possible to find a matching donor, or the recipient's body might reject the transplanted cells.

Another problem that can arise is that the number of transplanted HSCs may not be enough to generate sufficient blood or immune cells to treat the disease.

The problem with cultured HSCs

Scientists have tried to culture HSCs in the laboratory as an alternative to bone marrow transplants. However, various attempts to transplant cultured HSCs have hit a common problem: HSCs that scientists have removed from bone marrow soon lose their capacity for self-renewal in culture.

Once HSCs lose the ability to make new copies of themselves, the only future that they have is either to differentiate into specialized cells or to die.

Source: Medical News Today

Could outdoor light exposure at night heighten breast cancer risk?

H

igh exposure to outdoor lighting at nighttime may be a risk factor for breast cancer development, a new study suggests.

Share on PinterestResearchers suggest that nighttime exposure to outdoor light may raise the risk of breast cancer for some women.

From an analysis of almost 110,000 women, researchers found that those who resided in areas with high levels of outdoor light at nighttime were more likely to develop breast cancer compared with women who lived in areas with low levels of outdoor light during the night.

Lead study author Peter James, of the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute at Harvard Medical School in Boson, MA, and colleagues published their findings today in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

After skin cancer, breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in the United States. This year, it is estimated that around 252,710 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in the U.S.

Risk factors for breast cancer include inherited gene mutations, alcohol consumption, overweight or obesity, and lack of exercise. Increasingly, research has suggested that nighttime light exposure may also play a role in breast cancer risk.

StudiesTrusted Source have associated exposure to artificial light at night with a reduction in melatonin, which is the hormone that regulates our sleep-wake cycles.

Darkness triggers an increase in melatonin, which tells us when it is time to sleep. As such, when we are exposed to artificial light at night, melatonin levels decrease. This can cause sleep problems, which previous research has linked to increased breast cancer risk.

Breast cancer risk increased by 14 percent

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For the new study, James and his team sought to further explore the link between nighttime light exposure and breast cancer risk. To do so, the researchers analyzed the data of almost 110,000 women, all of whom participated in the Nurses' Health Study II between 1989 and 2013.

Using data from satellite images, the team assessed the levels of outdoor light at night in the areas each woman resided. Data were also gathered on the women's health, participation in night shift work, and socioeconomic factors.

Overall, compared with women who lived in areas with the lowest levels of outdoor light at night, those who resided in areas with the highest levels were found to have a 14 percent greater risk of breast cancer.

What is more, the team found that as levels of outdoor light at nighttime increased, so did the risk of breast cancer.

Night shift workers at greatest risk

On further investigation, the researchers found that the increased risk of breast cancer with high levels of outdoor light exposure was only valid for premenopausal women and women who were former or current smokers.

Additionally, this association was found to be strongest for women who worked night shifts. The researchers speculate that this is down to their greater exposure to artificial light at nighttime and the disruption of their sleep-wake cycles.

While further research is needed to confirm these results and the possible mechanisms behind them, James and colleagues believe that their study may have identified another potential risk factor for one of the most common cancers among women.

"In our modern industrialized society, artificial lighting is nearly ubiquitous. Our results suggest that this widespread exposure to outdoor lights during nighttime hours could represent a novel risk factor for breast cancer."

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Source: MedicalNewsToday