effects from project (for friday)

What are the short-term effects?
After alcohol consumption, the alcohol is absorbed in the stomach, and distributed throughout the bloodstreams where it is then carried to and absorbed by all the bodily tissues. Once a person drinks alcohol, they are highly susceptible to experiencing a number of effects such as, nausea, vomiting, slurred speech, dizziness, and impaired judgement and coordination. Also, since alcohol chemically alters the brain by means of tissue absorption, some people may experience temporary psychological transformations such as aggressiveness, which often leads to domestic abuse or child abuse.

What are the long-term effects?
After extensive exposure to heavy binge drinking, a person is highly susceptible to damaging organs such as the brain and liver. Furthermore, a sudden stop in using alcohol (once addicted) is likely yield excruciatingly painful withdrawal symptoms such as tremors, convulsions, hallucinations, migraines, and in some severe cases, even death. It is these restraining threats which are the main cause that deters people who are seeking to quit their addiction from doing so.

What are the short-term effects?
Upon snorting or smoking cocaine, a person will experience increased heart rate, blood pressure, insomnia, loss of appetite, irritability, and anxiety. Once the short-lived euphoric effects begin to fade away, the user will then experience what is known as a "coke crash" which includes fatigue and depression. Often times, in order to avoid this "coke crash" new users will begin to ingest more cocaine just before euphoria subsides. This in effect develops a physical dependence among these users, and many times results in addiction.

What are the long-term effects?
Prolonged usage of cocaine often results in aggressiveness and paranoia, often causing unprovoked fits of rage among users and constant jitteriness. Excessive snorting of cocaine can also cause ulcerations of the mucous membranes in the nose. This damage, being permanent, results in hyper delicacy of the nose where bleeding occurs frequently, and in some severe cases even causes the nose to collapse

What are the short-term effects?
Upon using ecstasy, users can show signs of teeth clenching, blurred vision, and nausea. Ecstasy has also been proven to increase heart/blood pressure, which then raises the chances of a seizure, which do occasionally occur. Ecstasy also enables people to engage in prolonged activity such as dancing, which is commonly done at "raves" and concerts where ecstasy is primarily used. This relentless activity coupled with the body heat of the crowd can lead to severe dehydration and high increases in body temperature which can then lead to kidney, liver, and cardiovascular failure.

What are the long-term effects?
Long-term exposure of ecstasy usage has been observed to damage the cells that produce serotonin. This chemical is vital in the regulation of mood, appetite, pain and memory. Considering that ecstasy is a relatively recently introduced drug, the amount of data collected on long-term effects are scarce. However, of the developing research out there, it has been reported that ecstasy dramatically damages memory cells in the brain.



What are the short-term effects?
Once the initial euphoric surge begins to subside, users experience many languid after-effects. This "nod", as it is commonly referred to is attributed to the depression of the central nervous system caused by the flux of heroin absorbed by brain tissue. These effects include alternating states of extreme drowsiness and awakeness, vomiting, constipation, slurred speech, and slow, uncoordinated motor skills.

What are the long-term effects?
Like people effected by alcoholism, many long-term heroin users are often apprehensive about quitting their addiction due the painful withdrawal symptoms produced by sudden cessation of use. These symptoms typically include, intense pain to muscles and bone, restlessness, insomnia, diarrhea, vomiting, cold flashes, and kicking movements. Depending on the severity of the physical dependence, these symptoms can last anywhere from two to seven days.
Furthermore, long-term heroin users are also at a risk of collapsing veins, destroying protective lining on the heart and lungs, liver disease, cellulites, and abscesses (a swollen or inflamed area on the skin caused by high concentrations of puss).

What are the Short-Term effects?
After the euphoric effects of meth subside, users will experience feeling numerous side effects which include, insomnia, loss of appetite, irritability, convulsions, and possibly a heart attack.





What are the Long-Term Effects?
Chronic usage of meth often leads to what is commonly known as "bingeing". Here users will involuntarily deprive themselves of sleep and food to satisfy their body's dependence of the drug. Bingeing can last for as long as three to four days and typically ends when the user is either too malnourished or fatigued to continue.
Prolonged exposure to meth is also psychologically and physically damaging, such as hallucinations, strokes, paranoia, toxic psychosis (which leads to aggressive behavior), and death. Some heavy users, as a result of acquired, semi-permanent hallucinations have been observed preforming repetitive behaviors similar to that of OCD such as constant cleaning, and constantly disassembling and reassembling objects. Another common occurrence observed in chronic users is a delusion of insects or parasites living inside of their skin. As a result of this hallucination, users will incessantly scratch at their skin, which eventually leaves the body scarred with scabs and open wounds.

What are the effects?
Prolonged use of central nervous system depressants commonly leads to physical dependence. When used excessively, they will slow down brain function (damage brain cells) produce an irregular heart beat, and depending on severity of dependence could cause seizures. Furthermore, these medications are especially dangerous when combined with other medications or alcohol. Here, this combination often leads to extremely low heart rates and respiratory levels.