Question

Has to be 1 page For the following drug “Heroin”,

1. Describe the drug itself and give a brief overview of its background (i.e. why is it taken?).

2. How is the typically drug taken? What are its sites of action, and how does it reach them? (Pharmacokinetics)

3. What are the drug’s actions on those sites? (Pharmacodynamics) 4. What are the Drug Effects?

5. How is the drug Metabolized and cleared from the body. How long does this generally take?

Answer 1

1) Ans )
              Heroin is an illegal, highly addictive drug processed from morphine, a naturally occurring substance extracted from the seed pod of certain varieties of poppy plants. It is typically sold as a white or brownish powder that is "cut" with sugars, starch, powdered milk, or quinine.

Pure heroin (diacetylmorphine) is a white powder with a bitter taste abused for its euphoric effects. Heroin, a highly addictive drug, is derived from the morphine alkaloid found in opium poppy plant and is roughly 2 to 3 times more potent than morphine.it act as anti-anxiety and pain-relieving properties.

Heroin is a highly addictive opioid drug, and its use has repercussions that extend far beyond the individual user. The medical and social consequences of drug use—such as hepatitis, HIV/AIDS, fetal effects, crime, violence, and disruptions in family, workplace, and educational environments—have a devastating impact on society and cost billions of dollars each year.

Several medical treatment options exist for heroin addiction and opioid use disorder (OUD): the general term for this process is Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT). A medically supervised withdrawal prior to MAT is known as detoxification ("detox").

2) Heroin provides a burst or rush of good feelings, and users feel "high" and relaxed. This may be followed by drowsiness and nausea.

Many people who are addicted to heroin inject the drug into a vein with needles, and may inject the drug several times a day. Over time, the needle marks, or tracks, can become permanent scar's

Methods of use

Heroin is most often injected intravenously (IV), however, it may also be:

vaporized ("smoked")

sniffed ("snorted")

used as a suppository

orally ingested.

Smoking and sniffing heroin do not produce a "rush" as quickly or as intensely as IV injection. Oral ingestion does not usually lead to a "rush", but use in suppository form may have intense euphoric effects. Heroin can be addictive by any given route.

3)Drug action would be Like neurotransmitters, drugs can speed up (CNS stimulants) or slow down (CNS depressants) the transfer of electro-chemical messages between neurons in the brain. Messages between neurons can also be distorted when hallucinogenic drugs are taken.
✓ opiates drugs such as heroin are thought to exert their drug action by mimicking endorphins which are naturally occurring proteins that reduce pain.

4)heroin drug effects:
         In addition to affecting the transfer of messages between neurons, drugs appear to act directly on 'pleasure centres' in the brain, which may explain the euphoria experienced by users of many different types of drugs. It is believed that the effect on the pleasure centre is highly rewarding for many young people and is crucial to the development of drug dependence.
Heroin is metabolized to morphine and other metabolites which bind to opioid receptors in the brain.

After an injection, the user reports feeling a surge of euphoria (the "rush") accompanied by a warm flushing of the skin, a dry mouth, and heavy extremities.

Following this initial euphoria, the user experiences an alternately wakeful and drowsy state.

Mental functioning becomes clouded due to the depression of the central nervous system.

The short-term effects of abuse appear soon after a single dose and disappear in a few hours.

5)Heroin has an extremely rapid half-life of two to six minutes and is metabolized to 6-acetyl morphine and morphine. The half-life of morphine is one and a half to seven hours and the half-life of 6-acetyl morphine is just six to 25 minutes. It takes four to five half-lives for a drug to be effectively eliminated from the system.

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