Week Two - Lecture Flashcards
What factors influence the effect a drug has on someone:
Person:
- age
- gender
- individual health
- cognitions/expectations
Why is intravenous drug use considered more harmful than other routes of administration:
Range of risks in general with injection – vein care, BBV, heart valve infections
Risk of overdose
Risks associated with unknown substances in blood stream
Risk of dependency
How do drugs work?
- Pharmacokinetics - what the body does to the drug
- Pharmacodynamics - what the drug does to the body
How does the body absorb the drug:
- via the skin
- oral
- smoked
- IV
Define distribution of drugs:
- organs with high blood flow first
- fat, muscles, and skin later.
Define drug dependence/ neuroadaption:
After period of continual use can become dependent on a drug.
Define drug tolerance:
when dependant, less affected by drug/need more to feel effects.
Define drug withdrawal:
when physically dependant, cessation results in withdrawal.
Define Cross-dependence:
One substance can take place of another to continue physical dependence and avoid withdrawal.
Define agonist effect:
An increase of stimulation the action of a neurotransmitter.
Define antagonist effect:
decrease or inhibition of the action of a neurotransmitter.
Define dopamine:
Neurotransmitter related to reward/pleasure.
Define half life:
Time for drug in blood to reduce by 50%
Short half life/short action more likely to be abused (e.g. Cocaine and Nicotine)
Define metabolism and excretion:
mostly via urine, some through lungs or gut.
Define synapses
Brain - millions of pathways (nerves) similar to a mass of electrical wires
Communication using chemical messages (neurotransmitters)
Everything that we think, feel and do are the result of these chemical communications