The Myth

‘Cocaine’ can’t be addicting because it lacks withdrawal symptoms exhibited physically as seen in heroin and alcohol addiction. This is a great myth. On the contrary, cocaine is the best type of stimulant.

Presently, our society is faced with the problem of ‘poly- drug- abuse’ of combining psychoactive drugs to achieve the desired effect, and cocaine is the most abused major stimulants. It is the drug that frequents our hospital’s emergency rooms and considered the “caviar” of recreational drugs. Cocaine is also used to help control the side effects of primary addiction.

‘Dopamine’ Relates to Addiction

Regulation of ‘dopamine’ plays a critical role in our health both mentally and physically. It is one of the neurotransmitters that play a major role in addiction. Dopamine is a chemical messenger in the brain controlling movement, emotional responses and to feel pleasure and pain. Changing the flow of the neurotransmitters is an effect of cocaine and amphetamine produce.

The agonists directly stimulate dopamine receptors acting in place of dopamine when they bind to dopamine receptors. On the other hand, the antagonists don’t stimulate by keeping dopamine from attaching to receptors when they bind, thus, reversing the actions.
Cocaine and amphetamine are indirect-acting drugs dependent on the activity of neurons. They produce effect by changing the flow of the neurotransmitters. In contrast, direct-acting drugs stimulate dopamine receptors even if dopamine neurons are missing and bypass the neurotransmitters altogether.

Latest Study on Dopamine to Block Cocaine Addiction

Another recent addition to these studies was the research conducted and led by neuroscientists of ‘Brookhaven National Laboratory’. The new study suggested that the effects of cocaine were not just within the dopamine system, but it also showed significant effects on brain metabolism clearly independent of cocaine’s effects on dopamine. Metabolic factors may possibly regulate the use and abuse of cocaine and may also suggest new opportunities for treating addiction.

The research technique used by researchers was through administering a radioactively labeled form of sugar called glucose on DAT knockout mice and in littermates with normal dopamine transporters before and after ingesting cocaine. A second set of mice lacking in dopamine transporters that had significantly higher metabolism in the thalamus and cerebellum than a normal mice was treated with saline. A comparison then was made with the use of positron emission tomography, or PET scanning. In addition to the other results mentioned above:

Effects on DAT knockout mice were analyzed by the scientists. Elevated metabolism was observed, and the effect might be due to the continued recurring elevation in dopamine levels that may be a contributing factor to the symptoms of ADHD.

The reduction in metabolism in the thalamus region may be due to the effect of cocaine on other neurotransmitter systems, for example, norepinephrine or serotonin, according to the researchers.

This increased amount in metabolism was assumed to have something to do with habitually high levels of dopamine may have a significant role in regulating the level of glucose in some areas of the brain that incorporate sensory information, learning and motor function.

The research revealed that immediately after cocaine ingestion, scientists detected a reduction in metabolism in great extent of the brain regions that can be attributed to be somehow related with the blockade of dopamine transporters by cocaine. Scientists believe that this finding will be of substantial importance in dealing with the drug addiction and its effects.

Drug abuse, chemical dependency, and addictive behavior spare none. Either do they respect age, profession, race, religion, or physical attributes. Drugs kill everyone with no discrimination.

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