The purpose of this report is to examine the effect that cocaine has on the brain therefore mental and physical health, including both short and long term effects.

Cocaine or also known by its street names coke, flake, crack, is an extremely addictive stimulant substance made from coca leafs which is illegally sold around the world. There are two forms of cocaine. First, is a freebase, white powder which can be used by being snorted, rubbed into gums, dissolved into water and injected into the blood stream. Second is Crack cocaine, or rock crystal, which is used by being smoked by being heated in vaporizers. Some short term effects are a high amount of energy, paranoia and high feeling of your senses. Long term effects of using this stimulant are different for which way it is used. loss of smell and nose bleeds is caused by snorting. Higher risks of HIV, hepatitis C and other blood borne diseases are caused by injections.

Good mental health is being able to deal with life’s day to day stress, having self-esteem and sense of wellbeing. Having bad mental health can mean that you struggle with problems such as feeling angry and tense for long periods of times, not enjoying things that you used to enjoy, crying for no reason, change in sleeping patterns and not doing as well in school as you used to. Good physical health is maintaining an all-round good diet and exercise. You can keep yourself fit by building up muscular strength, cardiovascular, flexibility and endurance. Having good physical health helps prevent sickness and good self-esteem about your body. Some physical problems are having illness’s or a disease such as cancer, diabetes, asthma. On the dieting side not having enough vitamins, minerals and having a high intake of saturated foods and sugars in your diet can cause bad physical health. Physical and mental health are extremely important to society by both helping you live life to the fullest.

This extended investigation will examine the effects cocaine has on the brain and therefore it’s short and long terms effects on mental and physical health. This will include the production process and  the chemical reactions which happen inside the human body.

Background

Cocaine is manufactured from the leaves of coca plants. 
Lime water and kerosene is used to turn it into a paste.
Sulphuric acid is added then filtered and dried.
Potassium permanganate or sulphur dioxide is added and ammonium hydroxide then dried to make the cocaine base.
The cocaine base is then dissolved in a container of acetone.
Pool acid and more acetone are added and left to sit for 3-6 hours.
The mix is then filtered through a cloth to trap the hydrochloride.
The cocaine is then left to dry and then is shipped. 

(Figure 1) cocaine’s chemical structure Retrieved from- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kokain_-_Cocaine.svg

Cocaine’s has many chemical properties such as being white crystals and white powder. Cocaine’s melting point is 98-degree C, has the molecular weight of 303.358 g/mol and has the monoisotopic mass of 303.147 g/mol .  

Cocaine can enter the blood stream by being snorted, inhaled or injected. By inhaling or injecting the high begins more admit,  but lasts 5-10 minutes but snorting can take longer for the high to begin yet last 10-15 minutes. Once it has entered the blood stream it interferes with the brains normal process then rapidly floods the pleasure centre creating a build-up of neurochemical dopamine, this creates the feeling of euphoria. During this the chemicals blocks certain neurotransmitters such as dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine. By doing this the cocaine stops them from being reabsorbed by the neurons which realised  them. This increases their concentration in the synapses which is what makes the natural effect of dopamine amplified. The chemical reactions unbalance the body’s chemicals and when they multiply on themselves it can multiply the wrong cell or chemical causing issues. The synapse decides whether to kill or keep the cells and if it gets confused by a foreign cell it may start killing off the wrong cells.

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter which is one of the chemical signals with in our body, located in the  synapse. Which pass’s information among neurons to neurons. Dopamine is associated with many neurological functions such as memory, learning, mood, pleasure, and sleep.

Long term cocaine use can take away a person’s ability to feel pleasure. This is due to the fact cocaine can reduce the amount of dopamine in the brain, resulting in strong cravings for cocaine.

Discussion

Cocaine can change a person’s mental and physical health drastically. The high increases feelings of euphoria and is short lived for around 10-15 minutes which is immediately followed by an opposite sensation. 

Short term physical affects can be the speed of your  heart rate rapidly increasing as well as the user’s blood pressure and body temperature increase. Short term use of this substance can also make your sleeping patterns disturbed and dilute  your pupils. It increases the risk of the user having a stroke, seizer and a heart attack. 

Short term effects of your mental health while under influence are feeling anxious, anxiety, angry and paranoia. After the high you start to feel extremely depressed making you crave more of the substance for the high.
 
Long term effects can range for the frequency of usage, how it is taken and the time period. The duration of which cocaine has been used can make the long term effects more sever. Common use of cocaine can accelerate the speed of brain aging as well as damaging the heart in many ways. Theses affects include cardiac arrhythmia (irregular heart rhythms), myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle) and in rare cases aortic dissection can be caused (bleeding in in the wall of the aorta). 

Cocaine can also cause many negative effects on the brain. These symptoms include diseases in the blood vessels of the brain, brain disorientation and reduce the amount of dopaminergic neurons in the midbrain. Additionally, to this they’re many other major malfunctions to the body that are caused by cocaine. These include the kidneys; chronic renal failure, end stage kidney disease, the gastrointestinal; arterial occlusion or tissue death, ulcers, the respiratory system; haemoptysis, chronic nasal congestion and viral hepatitis in the liver. The method that cocaine is taken on long term can also add different negative effects. 

Using oral as your method can eventually lead to a pause in the blood flow making a higher risk of tissue death. Using snorting as your method can lead to ulcers in the nose, chronic nosebleeds an anosmia. The method of injection causes scars from the area/areas of injection and blood borne diseases. 

Same as physical health, mental health’s effects can be worsened by how frequent it is taken and over what time period. Cocaine taken on a long term basis can lead to extreme violent urges which can lead to murder, irregular sleeping patterns which can lead to sleeping disorders, hallucinations and extreme paranoia. 

Conclusion

In conclusion, this report provides an understanding of cocaine’s effect on the brain and therefore mental and physical health. General chemical properties have been brought to attention as well as the production process and mental and physical health’s impact in society. Cocaine is considered as one of the world’s most addictive drugs. This is due to the fact of the short lived extreme high immediately followed but such a low. This makes you crave the drug even more want to be able to reach the potential of the high again. 

Based on my research, cocaine has negative effects on both your mental and physical health which can become harmful on yourself and the people who surround you.

Public Education Piece

My public education piece is a slide show, to show what I have learnt while during this extended investigation as well as the effects cocaine can have on yourself and the people who surround you. 

References

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https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/cocaine#section=Top

Dewprashad B. (n.d) The chemistry of cocaine. Retrieved from 
http://sciencecases.lib.buffalo.edu/cs/files/cocaine_chemistry.pdf 

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http://luxury.rehabs.com/cocaine-addiction/physical-effects/ 

drug-free world (2006) effects of cocaine retrieved from 
http://www.drugfreeworld.org/drugfacts/cocaine/effects-of-cocaine.html 

national institute of drug abuse (2014) drugs and the brain. Retrieved from
https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugs-brains-behavior-science-addiction/drugs-brain gov/pmc/articles/PMC2851032/ 

Lauren Brande (2016) how to help a cocaine addict. Retrieved from
http://drugabuse.com/library/how-to-help-a-cocaine-addict/ 

 National institute on drug abuse (2016) mind over matter: cocaine. Retrieved from 
https://teens.drugabuse.gov/teachers/mind-over-matter/cocaine/ 

Learn.genetics (n.d) drug use changes the brain over time. Retrieved from http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/addiction/brainchange/ 

The dopamine project (2011) dopamine. Retrieved from
http://dopamineproject.org/dopamine/