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What is heroin?
Heroin is an illegal, extremely addictive
drug. It is both the most abused and the most rapidly acting
of the opiates. Heroin is processed from morphine, a
naturally occurring substance extracted from the seedpod of
selected varieties of poppy plants. It is typically sold as
a white or brownish powder or as the black sticky substance
known on the streets as "black tar heroin." Although purer
heroin is becoming more common, most street heroin is "cut"
with other drugs or with substances such as sugar, starch,
powdered milk, or quinine. Street heroin can also be cut
with strychnine or other poisons. Because heroin users do
not know the actual strength of the drug or its true
contents, they are at risk of overdose or death. Heroin also
poses special problems because of the transmission of HIV
and other diseases that can occur from sharing needles or
other injection equipment.
What are the short-term effects
of heroin use?
Shortly after injection (or inhalation),
the drug crosses the blood-brain barrier. In the brain, it
is transformed to morphine and binds rapidly to opioid
receptors. Abusers typically report feeling a surge of
pleasurable sensation, a "rush." The intensity of the rush
is a function of how much heroin is taken and how rapidly it
enters the brain and binds to the natural opioid receptors.
Heroin is intensely addictive since it enters the brain so
rapidly. With heroin, the rush is typically accompanied by a
warm flushing of the skin, dry mouth, and a heavy feeling in
the extremities, which may be accompanied by nausea,
vomiting, and severe itching. After the first effects, users
frequently will be drowsy for several hours. Mental function
is clouded by heroin's effect on the central nervous system.
Cardiac performance reduces. Breathing is also severely
slowed, sometimes to the point of death. Heroin overdose is
a particular danger on the street, where the amount and
purity cannot be accurately known.
What are the lasting effects of
heroin use?
One of the most harmful lasting effects
of heroin use is addiction itself. Heroin produces profound
degrees of tolerance and physical dependence, which are also
powerful motivating issues for compulsive use and abuse. As
with abusers of any addictive drug, heroin users gradually
spend more and more time and energy getting and using.
Physical dependence develops with higher doses of the drug.
With physical dependence, the body adapts to the presence of
the drug and withdrawal symptoms occur if use is reduced
abruptly. Withdrawal symptoms include restlessness, muscle
and bone pain, insomnia, diarrhea, vomiting, cold flashes
with goose bumps ("cold turkey"), and leg movements. Major
withdrawal symptoms peak between 24 and 48 hours after the
last dose of heroin and subside after about a week. However,
some people have shown persistent withdrawal signs for many
months.
What are the medical
complications of chronic heroin use?
Medical consequences of chronic heroin
abuse include scarred and/or collapsed veins, bacterial
infections of the blood vessels and heart valves, abscesses
(boils) and other soft-tissue infections, and liver or
kidney disease. Lung complications (including various types
of pneumonia and tuberculosis) may result from the poor
health condition of the abuser as well as from heroin's
depressing effects on respiration. Many of the additives in
street heroin may include substances that do not readily
dissolve and result in clogging the blood vessels that lead
to the lungs, liver, kidneys, or brain. This can cause
infection or even death of small patches of cells in vital
organs. Immune reactions to these or other contaminants can
cause arthritis or other rheumatologic problems.
What are the treatments for
heroin addiction?
An assortment of effective heroin
treatment options is available. Treatment tends to be more
effective when heroin abuse is identified early.
Detoxification
The main objective of heroin detoxification is to
relieve withdrawal symptoms while individuals adjust to a
drug-free state. Not in itself a treatment for addiction,
detoxification is a practical step only when it leads into
long-term treatment that is either drug-free (residential or
outpatient) or uses medications as part of the treatment.
The best-documented drug-free treatments are the therapeutic
community residential programs lasting at least 3 to 6
months.
Methadone programs
Methadone treatment has been utilized successfully
and safely to treat heroin addiction for more than 30 years.
Properly prescribed methadone is not intoxicating or
sedating, and its effects do not interfere with ordinary
activities such as driving a car. Patients are able to
perceive pain and have emotional reactions. Most important,
methadone relieves the craving associated with heroin
addiction; craving is a major reason for relapse.
Methadone's effects last for about 24 hours, four to six
times as long as those of heroin, so people in treatment
need to take it only once a day. Also, methadone is
medically safe even when used continuously for 10 years or
more.
LAAM and other medications
LAAM, like methadone, is a synthetic opiate that
can be used to treat heroin addiction. LAAM can block the
effects of heroin for up to 72 hours with minimal side
effects when taken orally. Naloxone and Naltrexone are
medications that also block the effects of morphine, heroin,
and other opiates. Naltrexone has long-lasting effects,
ranging from 1 to 3 days, depending on the dose. Naltrexone
blocks the pleasurable effects of heroin and is useful in
treating some highly motivated individuals.
Another medication to treat heroin addiction, Buprenorphine,
may already be available by the time this Research Report
appears. Buprenorphine also produces a lower level of
physical dependence, so individuals who stop the medication
usually have fewer withdrawal symptoms than do those who
stop taking methadone.
Behavioral therapies
While behavioral and pharmacologic treatments can
be extremely useful when employed alone, science has taught
us that integrating both types of treatments will ultimately
be the most effective approach. There are many effective
behavioral treatments available for heroin addiction. These
can include residential and outpatient approaches.
Heroin Addiction Rehab Treatment
If you or someone you know would like to
talk with one of our trained staff to discuss treatment
options for Heroin Addiction treatment please contact us 24
hours a day, 7 days a week at our t oll free number:
1-866-874-9774. You will receive a free consultation. |
