Long Term Affects of Opiate and Heroin Addiction on the Brain and Body

Running Head: LONG TERM AFFECTS OF OPIATE AND HEROIN ADDICTION ON THE BRAIN AND BODY

Long Term Affects of Opiate & Heroin Addiction on the Brain and Body

Abstract

It is commonly known that drug use is a debilitating illness that can cause damage to the life of the addict. However, have we truly considered the prospect of how this addiction can affect the body long after an addict is in "recovery"? Opiates and heroin are central nervous system depressants that slow the various systems of the body. What are the long term effects of this use? The interesting and alarming area of the body affected is the brain. Everyone has discussed the "high" and the symptoms of "withdrawal" but how much have we learned about the long term affects of abuse on the entire body?

Introduction

There are many long term effects of opiates (OxyContin, Percocet, Vicoden, etc.) and heroin addiction on the body. This damage can have long term effects on the brain. The specific areas of the brain affected are the areas associated with the "bonding center", "judgment center" and "feel good" centers of the brain. It is widely known that addiction is a disease that affects all aspects of the body. Further, this damage extends to the kidneys, liver, digestive system, respiratory system, and other complications. However, much focus has been on the "recovery process" without a great deal of emphasis on how the abuse of opiates and heroin can affect an afflicted individual's long term life.

The Brain

Dr. Harold Urshel, III describes the damage to the brain by drug abuse in "Healing the Addicted Brain" perfectly: "Addictive drugs physically damage and transform the brain, in the same way other chronic diseases damage other parts of the body." (Urchel, 2009, pp. 17). Long term use of opiates affects the cortex which is the area that allows us to think, and learn and understand. It damages the limbic region of the brain which is where our basic needs such as eating and sexual behaviors. It damages the hippocampus are where we store long term memory. In the before mentioned text by Dr. Urshel, he describes the description of the damaged brain: "In nontechnical terms, the damaged brain looks like a big chunk of polar ice that's half-melted and full of crevices." (Urchel, 2009, pp. 17). That is a powerful statement - simply imagine the view. The organ that controls the entire cognitive state of the being, we must ask ourselves how that would affect the affected individuals every day life?

The article by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (2007), explains that "all drugs of abuse directly or indirectly target the brain's reward system by flooding the circuit with dopamine." (NIDA, 2007). If the brain's natural ability to produce dopamine is damaged, the brain's ability to recognize healthy and normal reward system understanding is damaged. The long term drug abuse causes the damaged brain to create abnormally low levels of dopamine, which inhibits the affected brain's ability to feel pleasure. The NIDA states that "the same sort of mechanisms involved in the development of tolerance can eventually lead to profound changes in neurons and brain circuits, with the potential to severely compromise the long-term health of the brain." (NIDA, 2007) In considering the effects of long term abuse on the "conditioning" of the brain where "environmental clues become associated with the drug experience" can cause a "reflex" in a strong desire (sometimes uncontrollable) to abuse drugs again "even after many years of abstinence." (NIDA, 2007).

One of the alarming damages is to the brain's natural ability to utilize its own opiate receptors. Opiate receptors are activated when the body produces endorphins. Endorphins are our natural "feel good" hormones. Synthetic opiates (such as heroin and OxyContin) produce replicas of this natural opiate receptor allowing for a production of an unnatural euphoric state. With chronic opiate abuse, this natural system of opiate receptors becomes damaged. Therefore the brain stops producing endorphins altogether without that chemical input. The brain then sends out "triggers" - alerting the body of the "need" to produce these endorphins. This need is what is associated with relapse into addiction, many months and even years after detoxification.

We should also discuss the damage to the cortex area of the brain. This is the area of the brain that controls our abilities to think, learn, understand and perform higher learning tasks. Chronic opiate use (as with most other abused substances) damages the brain's ability to absorb ideas and rational thinking. Dr. Urschel states "a great deal of the alcohol - or drug-induced brain damage takes place in the prefrontal cortex - where planning, abstract thinking, and the regulation of impulse behavior, drives, and compulsive repetitive behaviors occur." (Urchel, 2009, pp. 20).

The prefrontal cortex damage is further explained in the British Journal of Pharmacology article titled "The Neurocircuitry of Addiction: An Overview by MW Feltenstein and RE See. Feltenstein and See provide several theories as to the learned responses of programming the addictive brain - these theories have long term consequences in the determination of the brain's ability to re-learn responses. They state "alterations in the prefrontal cortical activity leading to reductions in behavioral control and decision-making skills and overlaps between limbic and cortical areas involved in addiction and memory that results in maladaptive associative learning." (Feltenstein, et. al. 2008. pp. 262)

What exactly does that statement mean to the addictive brain? If there are alterations to the brain's ability to decide courses of actions, and taints the limbic and cortical areas which controls memory, then the ability to reason and learn is damaged. The most alarming portion of that statement is the "maladaptive associative learning" portion. We learn as children: touch a hot stove equals, get burned - this is an example of associative learning. Once that association has been imprinted, we then must be "forced" to touch a hot stove. If the addictive brain is programmed to think "In order to be happy, make decisions, cope, etc. I must have drugs" - then that associative process has been completed to the detriment of the individual.