Drug abuse, especially with drugs such as heroin, has a profound effect on brain functioning, particularly with long-term drug use. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, "addiction is a brain disease that affects multiple brain...
Because opiates such as heroin induce an immediate sensation of euphoria, they are powerfully addictive drugs. The Society for Neuroscience reports that as many as 1 million Americans are addicted to heroin, making it a serious public health...
Originally derived from opium, heroin is a very addictive illegal substance. According to the National Drug Intelligence Center, 3,091,000 Americans have reported using the drug at least one time. Heroin can be inhaled, snorted or injected....
Opiates are drugs derived from the plant opiate. Common examples of opiates are heroin, narcotic painkillers and morphine. Many people become addicted to opiates after being prescribed narcotic painkillers following an injury. Typically, opiate...
Methadone is a narcotic pain reliever used during detoxification and recovery from illicit drug use such as heroin. Using the drug reduces the amount of withdrawal symptoms such as sweating, insomnia, nausea and shaking that accompany...
Extracted from the seed capsule of the opium poppy plant, opiates are a class of narcotics legally prescribed by health professionals for pain relief in the form of morphine. Morphine can be chemically altered to produce heroin, which is used as a...
Methadone is used as both a painkiller when other drugs have failed and as a treatment path for heroin addicts to help them beat their addiction, notes MedlinePlus. Methadone works by altering how the brain responds to pain and how the nervous...
The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health notes that methadone, a synthetic opioid, was originally developed as a means for relieving pain. Methadone was later found to be effective in treating addiction to opiates such as heroin through...
Doctors have found that when treating heroin addicts it is often best to use medication along with support services. This is because the attachment to heroin is so strong it causes many relapses. The medication-and-support approach helps with the...
Heroin, one of the most addictive opiates, can cause a long-term and chronic disease of the drug addiction. Opiates.com reports heroin as one of the most addictive substances and rates it as the most influential in the "war on drugs." The...
Heroin is an illicit opiate drug capable of causing addiction and a host of health problems. According to the National Institutes of Health, an estimated 3.7 million people have used heroin at some time in their lives. Learning to recognize the...
Suboxone, or buprenorphine, is a medication used to treat dependence on opioids like painkillers (e.g. morphine, methadone and oxycodone) or the illegal street drug heroin. Suboxone helps patients reduce their use of opioids and continue treatment...
There is much inherent risk in abusing opiate drugs such as heroin, morphine, Codeine, Vicodin, OxyContin and Dilaudid. Addiction, overdose and exposure to diseases spread by the sharing of intravenous needles, like HIV and hepatitis, are just a...
A variety of treatments are available to help individuals addicted to heroin to cope with the harsh withdrawal symptoms, including medications and behavioral therapies. A medically assisted detoxification is usually the first step, but the best...
In 2008, approximately 3.8 million Americans aged 12 or older had admitted to using heroin at some point in their lives, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. This drug is highly addictive and using it can have serious...
Heroin withdrawal is a long, and often painful, process. Many health care providers are now offering complementary and alternative treatments to help with managing withdrawal symptoms, including Traditional Chinese Medicine. Chinese herbs for...
Methadone is a long-acting opioid drug that is used clinically as a strong pain-reliever and to relieve the withdrawal symptoms felt by people recovering from abuse of other opioid drugs. Opioid drugs are natural or synthetic compounds derived...
Heroin is an illegal narcotic drug that is injected, smoked or snorted. All heroin addicts experience symptoms of withdrawal when they are abstinent from the drug, unable to obtain sufficient quantity of the drug or when the quantity has less than...
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services lists 60 substance abuse treatment centers within Miami, and 156 within a 100-mile radius of the city. These centers vary by the services they offer, the type of client they serve, the special needs...
One of the most commonly abused narcotics according to the American Council for Drug Education's, heroin is derived from either the opium poppy or chemical synthetics. Dependence on heroin can be a difficult to break. For this reason, certain...
Heroin is an illicit drug that is a type of opiate, or painkiller. Once injected, smoked or sniffed, the drug binds to receptors in the body and brain, causing a number of intoxicating effects. There are three approved medications for helping...
Alcohol and drug abuse treatment programs vary from intensive inpatient programs that last from 30 days to more than a year and outpatient programs that offer counseling and education to self-help groups and private psychiatric services. The...
Methadone is a derivative of the Asian poppy plant, making it an opiate. After the material for the drug is collected from the plant, it is synthetically altered to amplify, purify and direct its effects. This process makes methadone extremely...
Opiates such as methadone, morphine and oxycodone are highly addictive narcotic pain medications that are generally prescribed in preparation for surgeries and following serious accidents, injuries or medical conditions. Withdrawal from opiates...
Drug detoxification is the most important action a recovering addict experiences before rehabilitation begins. Detox cleanses the system of toxins that the drug has cause to accumulate in the body. It allows the body to rid itself of the drug and...
According to MedlinePlus, heroin is an opiate drug made from the seeds of the Asian poppy plant. It usually comes in the form of a white or brown powder, and can be snorted, smoked or injected. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services...
Drugs.com states that methadone is a synthetic opioid used for the treatment of heroin addiction and dependence on other opioid drugs such as morphine. Methadone is only available upon prescription by a doctor specializing in treating addiction...
Opiates are a class of narcotics derived from the poppy plant. They cause depressive effects and are also known to cause addiction---a brain disease that affects multiple areas of the brain involved in learning, memory, reward and inhibition, says...
Symptoms describe an individual's subjective experience of illness, and are different from signs of illness which are visible to others. Heroin addicts typically experience symptoms of withdrawal when they stop using the drug, when they are...
The NADA protocol is an acupuncture ear treatment method that is effective with treating addiction. Learn more about ear treatments and acupuncture from our medical expert in this free video.
