Addiction Interventions Flashcards
what are the two main types of intervention drugs
Agonists and antagonists.
what is an agonist?
An agonist is a healthier version of the addictive drug designed to help the patient withdraw slowly. It mimics the drug.
what is an antagonist?
This blocks the positive effect of the addictive drug meaning that the patient gets no reward from taking the problem drug.
what is methadone
methadone is an agonist used to treat heroine addiction. It is ingested orally meaning because it is too pure to inject. This drug rises the opiate level in the brain slowly but the high lasts for longer. It is a different high to heroine but taking heroine whilst under the influence of methadone would have little effect.
What is Naltrexone?
Its an antagonist that can be used to block the effects of the rewarding feelings received from alcohol and heroine
Why are patients more likely to take more of an agonist than they would take the original drug.
They know that the replacement is healthier so they think they are allowed to have more of it.
why are patients likely to take more of the addictive drug after taking an antagonist?
The antagonist reduces the reward of the drug so they need to take more to get the same effects as they had before.
what happens when a patients supply of agonist drugs is reduced too quickly?
the patient will have withdrawal from the agonist
how many deaths was the agonist methadone responsible for in 2007?
300
what side effects do nicotine patches have?
The nicotine can still have harmful effects such as cardiovascular disorder. and the patches can cause skin irritation.
What does NRT stand for?
Nicotine replacement therapy
what is varenicline?
it is a partial agonist designed to stop people smoking
How effective was varenicline vs the placebo
The placebo was 23% successful and the actual varenicline was 35%.
