Cocaine addiction rose to prominence in the United States during the 1980s and 1990s. However, addiction to the drug is still widespread throughout the country and has implications for public health. Although a person who abuses cocaine may exhibit a general sense of well-being and act confident, the drug sometimes leads to various health problems, sometimes even leading to an emergency room visit.

According to the 2013 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) survey:

• There were nearly 1.5 million cocaine users ages 12 and older in the US.

• The rate of cocaine use in 2013 was similar to the survey years 2009-2012 (4-1.7 million) and lower than the rates of 2002-2007 (2-2.4 million).

• In 2012, 601,000 Americans ages 12 and older used cocaine for the first time one year prior to the survey.

• The rate of initiation to cocaine was similar to the survey of the years 2008-2012 and lower than that of 2002-2007.

Cocaine abuse can lead to premature aging

Cocaine is one of the deadliest substances known to create a huge psychological dependency by stimulating the key pleasure centers in the brain, causing a feeling of euphoria in the user. Additionally, once addicted to cocaine, the individual develops high levels of tolerance to the drug, thus experiencing even more powerful cravings for higher amounts of the drug to fuel their addiction.

In addition to various health-related problems such as cardiovascular disease, heart attack, and other life-threatening health risks, cocaine use can also impair a person’s judgment and thinking ability, leading to addiction. . Precisely, it eats the brain twice as fast as normal aging. Compared with non-users, cocaine users lose a significant amount of gray matter, responsible for memory, attention, and decision-making, in the prefrontal and temporal regions of the brain.

“Chronic cocaine users lose gray matter at a significantly faster rate, which could be a sign of premature aging,” saying karen erche of the Institute for Clinical and Behavioral Neuroscience in it University of Cambridge and co-author of a 2012 study on the brains of regular cocaine users, which was published in the Journal of Molecular Psychiatry.

Need to educate young people about the risk of premature aging

In the 2012 study, KD Ersche and his colleagues at the University of Cambridge showed that constant cocaine use shrinks the brain. Using brain imaging, the researchers studied the gray matter volume of 120 individuals in the 18-50 age group, half of whom were cocaine addicts. As expected, both groups showed a decline in gray matter attributed to the age factor, but the cocaine-dependent users showed twice the rate of degeneration compared to non-cocaine users.

According to the researchers, cocaine addicts lost approximately 3 cc of total gray matter volume annually compared to a loss of 1.6 cc per year for people not dependent on cocaine. It was also found that deeper regions of the brain, such as the striatum, were less affected by cocaine dependence.

“Young people who use cocaine today need to be educated about the long-term risk of aging prematurely.,” saying ersche. The results were unchanged even after removing 16 participants who were also addicted to alcohol in addition to cocaine. Animal studies suggest that cocaine-related brain degeneration may be related to oxidative stress.

“Oxidative stress is caused by the production of unstable molecules called reactive oxygen species; when the body cannot remove these molecules or repair the damage they cause; disease can result,” saying ersche.

Leading a drug-free life is possible

Any type of addiction, if left untreated, can worsen over time. Therefore, it is necessary to take the appropriate measures to address the problem as soon as possible.