Medicines have different effects on the human body, a branch of medicine called clinical pharmacology is studying this issue.
Some medicines, with repeated use, lose their effectiveness due to addiction to a drug. This condition leads to dependence on the drug, which turns into a regular increase in the dose of the drug to achieve the desired effect.
Record content:
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1 Definition of addiction in pharmacology
- 1.1 Why is addictive
- 1.2 Positive and negative sides of the effect
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2 Types of addiction in pharmacology and principles
- 2.1 Examples of drugs
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3 Development of addiction
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3.1 Addiction symptoms
- 3.1.1 Mental addiction
- 3.1.2 Physical addiction
- 3.1.3 Withdrawal syndrome
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3.1 Addiction symptoms
- 4 Treatment methods
- 5 Video about drug addiction
Definition of addiction in pharmacology
People of different ages and gender can suffer not only from alcohol and drug addiction, but also from drug addiction. The syndrome of addiction to drugs (drugs) develops with their constant use or in case of an overdose.
This phenomenon is often called "drug addiction in the drugstore", and addicted people hide or do not recognize the problem. Not all medications have dangerous side effects; pain relievers, hypnotics, and tranquilizers have the highest addictive potential.
Addiction in medicine is called the phenomenon of a gradual decrease in the response to the use of a drug. The danger of the situation in the need to increase the dose of drugs, which leads to the development of dependence.
In clinical pharmacology, addiction syndrome is called the body's tolerance to a certain substance. The condition develops due to its accelerated metabolism, a decrease in the reaction of cell receptors, or a weakening of contact with the drug. As a result, with the repeated administration of the therapeutic complex, the reaction of cells and organs to it decreases, tending to zero.
However, a repeated course can lead to the accumulation of the action of a biological substance (cumulation):
- In the case of material cumulation, the body accumulates a pharmacological composition. Long-acting medications with a slow release, which is characteristic of cardiac glycosides, have a similar property.
- For the cumulation of a functional species, accumulation is not typical of the active substance, but of the result of its action. Ethyl alcohol has a similar effect, its accumulation during alcoholism disrupts the functioning of the central nervous system, causing delirium tremens.
Addiction in pharmacology is a weakening of the body's response to adapt to a multiple dose of a drug. Based on the motivating motives for the abuse, addiction to drugs cannot be called drug addiction, since medications are required not for pleasure, but for the relief of painful symptoms and the treatment of medical diseases.
Even if these are painkillers (opium, morphine). For drug addicts, narcotic drugs, like alcohol-containing drugs for alcoholics, serve as a source of euphoria, entering into a state of narcotic or alcoholic trance.
However, according to WHO experts, addiction can be equated with drug addiction due to general symptoms. In addition, both pathological conditions are reflected in personality characteristics and socioeconomic status, taking into account the availability of drugs that caused drug dependence.
Why is addictive
The causes of the syndrome are due to the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic nature of drugs:
- Pharmacokinetic mechanism addiction is based on the body's sensitivity to drug doses. Re-administration of drugs can lead to a disruption in the absorption of the active substance, its distribution to organ tissues due to impaired secretion of enzymes, which affects bioavailability LS. An example is addiction to barbiturates, tranquilizers (benzodiazepine series).
- Pharmacodynamic mechanism addiction is associated not with the concentration of the product in the area of specific receptors, but with the sensitivity of tissues to the drug. The reason for such a response to the drug is explained by the reduced density and reduced response of the receptors, the failure of other intracellular processes. An example of addiction is a narcotic type of analgesics, adrenomimetics and others.
The dynamics of the formation of drug dependence develops according to a conditioned reflex type, when calming down and finding inner harmony comes with the intake of the next portion of drugs. It is the influence of the body's adaptive reactions associated with the sensitivity and the amount of SR that leads to the onset of the addiction syndrome.
Positive and negative sides of the effect
To assess the fact of addiction, it is worth referring to the effect of resistance. This term in pharmacology denotes the absence of a reaction of microorganisms and cells to the effect of a drug to combat them. Resistance of viruses or bacteria develops at high doses of the drug, destructive for harmful agents, but necessary for successful treatment.
According to a similar scenario, the resistance of malignant tumor cells to the prescribed chemicals develops. The reason lies in the spontaneous mutations of cellular structures that ensure the "survival" of the altered cells. In case of premature termination of drugs, mutated cells multiply, passing on their new properties to the next generations of pathogens.
Addiction in pharmacology is a process that contributes to the accumulation of therapeutic substance by tissue cells when prescribing long courses of drug therapy.
In medical practice, drug tolerance can become not only negative, but also positive:
Addictive properties | Argumentation |
Negative | With the growth of tolerance, the threat of a complete decrease in resistance to attacks by viruses and pathogenic bacteria increases. As a result, there is a drop in the body's immune defense, which turns into the development of serious complications of untreated diseases, the likelihood of death. |
Positive | Tolerance of the immune system to its own agents leads to the cessation of the production of antibodies directed against the cells of the tissues of the body. In addition, the material or functional form of drug accumulation leads to the preservation of their optimal concentration in the blood. |
Taking a drug with a cumulative effect enhances its therapeutic properties, maintaining the stability of the state of health over a long time interval.
To protect against the development of addiction syndrome, the patient needs strict medical control of the time of admission and dosing to protect against overdose and accumulation of drugs in the blood, as well as side effects due to non-compliance with the rules drug withdrawal.
Types of addiction in pharmacology and principles
The phenomenon of tolerance can develop according to a slow or fast scenario. In the first case, the syndrome becomes the result of prolonged use of analgesics, drugs antihypertensive and laxative effects, as well as drugs that include alcohol, barbiturates, phenamine.
A decrease in the body's sensitivity to such drugs occurs gradually if the drugs are taken for a long time. Therefore, in order to achieve a therapeutic effect, the dose must be increased.
A similar phenomenon is also observed with the use of poisons, when an addiction to their toxic effects is formed. As a result, the body is already able to tolerate even a lethal dose of poison for ordinary people. Addiction to beta-adrenergic agonists used to relieve bronchospasm during long-term treatment of bronchial asthma also develops on a slow type.
Tolerance in some cases can appear very quickly, this phenomenon is denoted by the term "taphylaxis". The reaction develops with the arrival of the first portion of the substance, which is typical for psychedelics such as LSD and some types of drugs.
Taphylaxis is a specific type of response to repeated administration of ephedrine in which the therapeutic effect decreases rapidly due to a drop in the rate of response compared to the initial administration. Also, the change in the properties of cytoreceptors (desentization) can become the cause of rapid addiction. The phenomenon is typical for repeated administrations of histamine, serotonin, nicotine, oxytocin.
Addiction sometimes develops in the opposite way, when the desired effect is achieved by taking a lower dose. The phenomenon of cross-tolerance is also described in pharmacology.
This condition is characterized by a special type of reaction - taking one drug increases addiction to the drug of the same group (cross-tolerance). In the case of the development of inverse tolerance, the desired effect is achieved by administering a lower dose.
To prevent the development of addiction syndrome, it is necessary to monitor compliance with the drug intake schedule. It is equally important to prescribe drug therapy in limited courses with long breaks between them. In order to prevent cross-tolerance, it is recommended to replace medicinal products with analogs similar in action.
Examples of drugs
According to statistics, addiction syndrome with the subsequent development of drug dependence is more common among elderly patients.. In fact, there are many more people who are addicted to drugs, because they usually hide their addiction.
The table below summarizes the main types of addictive medicines:
LS group | Characteristics |
Laxatives | The intestinal mucosa quickly gets used to the irritating effect of plant and chemical compounds. Over time, peristalsis decreases, which turns into a "lazy bowel" syndrome. |
Vasoconstrictor | The maximum term for treatment with drops and sprays for narrowing the vessels of the nasal mucosa is 5-7 days. Then addiction sets in, and when abruptly canceled, the mucous membrane swells. |
Antihistamines | Drugs of this type are subdivided into generations. The first generation drugs (Suprastin), with long courses or uncontrolled treatment of allergies, cause an aggravation of its symptoms. |
Soothing | Relaxing (tranquilizing), sedative and hypnotic medications and antidepressants have a particularly high addictive potential. Medicines act on the state of the nervous system, therefore it is not recommended to take them longer than a month. |
Pain relievers | The drugs in this group include not only analgesics (Tramadol), but also opioids. Abuse of drugs that cause not only physical but also psychological dependence leads to the development of withdrawal symptoms. |
Among the drugs that threaten addiction and dependence are hormonal drugs. These are steroidal growth hormones that cause muscle gain and the female sex hormones estrogens, which have controversial anti-aging effects.
Tolerance syndrome can also cause abuse of codeine-based antitussives, alcohol-containing solutions.
Development of addiction
With excessive intake of medications and an uncontrolled increase in dosage, the body does not have time to adapt to the intake of large portions, which ends with addiction. If the process of receiving extreme doses does not stop, the active substance stops working, and dependence (addiction) on drugs is formed in the body.
Addiction in pharmacology is not the same as addiction. From a medicine to which a person is accustomed, he can refuse by gradually canceling it. In case of dependence, refusal of the dose will lead to a malfunction of the internal organs.
Drug dependence is based on the fact of addiction to the action of drugs taken for a long time or in large doses.. To obtain a therapeutic effect, the patient has to increase the dose, which leads to drug dependence.
Addiction symptoms
In the field of pharmacology, the entire spectrum of symptoms of an addicted state is divided into two main categories - dependence of a mental and physical type. Drug withdrawal syndrome is considered to be a separate block of signs.
Among the main symptoms of drug addiction, the appearance of pain syndrome of varying degrees should be noted. severity, vegetative crises, states of excitement or inhibition, changes in pressure and composition blood.
Mental addiction
This is the most difficult condition in pharmacology when taking antidepressants or psychotropic drugs turns into an unhealthy need, and the active substance is built into the system of metabolic and nervous processes.
It is manifested by emotional and physical discomfort on stopping the medication for a long course, and the body requires them to get rid of unpleasant sensations. The main threat of addiction is dysfunction of the brain and peripheral parts of the nervous system.
Physical addiction
The syndrome develops on the basis of long-term use of painkillers, tranquilizers, antipsychotics, hypnotics. Such drugs successfully cope with the manifestations of many diseases, but do not eliminate the cause of their appearance, and the body quickly adapts to high doses.
With the termination of therapy, a number of negative consequences of a neurological, autonomic-somatic, mental nature develop. Abstinence dependence is caused not only by the withdrawal of the drug, but also by the introduction of an antagonist to the dependent substance.
Withdrawal syndrome
This is the highest degree of drug addiction when the drug is stopped, to which a persistent addiction has developed. The deterioration of the condition is manifested by the symptoms from which the patient took the pills.
For example, the sudden withdrawal of an analgesic leads to a multiple increase in headache. Moreover, the accelerated metabolism of the active substance increases the symptoms of withdrawal symptoms (withdrawal symptoms).
Treatment methods
The most effective way to protect against addiction syndrome in pharmacology is considered to be the method of combination therapy., carried out taking into account the biological mechanisms of the development of possible addiction.
The treatment program includes 3 main stages:
- drug therapy to maintain mental balance;
- physiotherapy procedures to normalize physical functions;
- psychotherapeutic sessions to restore inner harmony.
The timing of drug treatment should be optimal, and the duration of the breaks between them will be a guarantee that the next course will not cause tolerance, since addiction is a temporary phenomena. In each case, the treatment regimen is prescribed individually, taking into account the characteristics of the drug and the specific disease.
Summing up, we can conclude that the syndrome of addiction (or tolerance) to drugs in pharmacology is a particular case of the process of adaptation to external factors.
The uniqueness of this syndrome is in reducing the effect of a drug in the event of its re-entry into the body. The phenomenon is inherent not only to humans, but also to animals, since organs and cellular structures suffer from its symptoms.
Video about drug addiction
Drug dependence - treatment, symptoms and signs of dependence: