The Evidence - Science Doesn't Lie
Cocaine: Cutting A Few Lines...
What is the big deal about cutting a few lines of coke now and then? In many places, occasional cocaine use is on the rise and people see the risks as minimal compared to heroin or ecstasy use. However, today's evidence proves that dealing with cocaine is deadly serious - assuming that you care about the proper functioning of your brain and heart.
Cocaine seriously complicates the way your brain works. Researchers have taken pictures of cocaine using brains and non-cocaine using brains to find that sections in the brain that control judgment are significantly smaller in the cocaine using brains (Makris et al 2004). Researchers in the UK and US found that cocaine can also cause permanent brain damage by destroying a key protein responsible for learning and memory (Yao et al 2004). Brain damage from cocaine use causes what researchers call "silent brain dysfunction" - your brain remains changed even after you stop to use the drug (Volkow et al 1992).
This confirms a massive body of research signaling cocaine's harmful effects on the brain (e.g. Milne 1999; Little et al 1999). Cocaine also dramatically affects the heart by constricting the body's blood vessels and forcing an increase in blood pressure. Research carried out at 64 medical centers in the U.S. over a period of seven years has found that using cocaine increases one's risk of a heart attack 24-fold after the first hour of use. 29 of the 38 cocaine users in the study had no prior symptoms for a heart attack, so it appears that cocaine was the vital ingredient. The lead researcher, Dr Murray Mittleman, said "As the public learns more about the huge risk involved in using cocaine, we hope fewer people will want to experiment with this truly dangerous drug." (Mittleman 1999).
Additional Scientific Research about Cocaine
- Little et al. (2003). Loss of Striatal Vesicular Monoamine Transporter Protein (VMAT2) in Human Cocaine Users. Am J Psychiatry 160:47-55, January 2003.
- Makris, N. (2004). Decreased Absolute Amygdala Volume in Cocaine Addicts. Neuron, Volume 44, Number 4, November 18, 2004, pages 729-740.
- Milne, D. (2003). Cocaine Appears to Damage Brain's Dopamine Neurons. Psychiatr. News, February 7, 2003; 38(3): 22 - 22.
- Mittleman, M. A., Mintzer, D., Maclure, M., Tofler, G. H., Sherwood, J. B., Muller, J. E. (1999). Triggering of Myocardial Infarction by Cocaine. Circulation 99: 2737-2741
- Yao WD, Gainetdinov RR, Arbuckle MI, Sotnikova TD, Cyr M, Beaulieu JM, Torres GE, Grant SG, Caron MG. (2004). Identification of PSD-95 as a Regulator of Dopamine-Mediated Synaptic and Behavioral Plasticity. Neuron, Vol 41, 625-638, 19 February 2004.
