News tagged with methamphetamine
New hope for addicts
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to quickly grasp what a University of Mississippi professor's research could mean to the millions of people addicted to hardcore narcotics such as heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine and morphine.
Addiction
Jan 28, 2013 |
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Heroin vaccine blocks relapse in preclinical study
Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have reported successful preclinical tests of a new vaccine against heroin. The vaccine targets heroin and its psychoactive breakdown products in the bloodstream, preventing ...
Medical research
May 06, 2013 |
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New street drug 'bath salts' packs double punch, mimics effects of two powerful narcotics
The street drug commonly referred to as "bath salts" is one of a growing list of synthetic and unevenly regulated narcotics that are found across the United States and on the Internet. New research on this potent drug paints ...
Medical research
Feb 23, 2012 |
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Review questions link between methamphetamine and cognitive impairment
(Medical Xpress) -- A review of recent research on methamphetamine use suggests that claims the drug causes significant cognitive problems are exaggerated. The study by Carl Hart, PhD, and colleagues at Columbia ...
Psychology & Psychiatry
Jan 10, 2012 |
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Meth fills hospitals with burn patients
(AP) -- A crude new method of making methamphetamine poses a risk even to Americans who never get anywhere near the drug: It is filling hospitals with thousands of uninsured burn patients requiring millions ...
Health
Jan 23, 2012 |
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Use of Mephedrone—a popular party drug—can lead to permanent brain damage, research shows
(Medical Xpress)—The party drug mephedrone can cause lasting damage to the brain, according to new research led by the University of Sydney.
Psychology & Psychiatry
Sep 19, 2012 |
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Discovery of brain's natural resistance to drugs may offer clues to treating addition
A single injection of cocaine or methamphetamine in mice caused their brains to put the brakes on neurons that generate sensations of pleasure, and these cellular changes lasted for at least a week, according ...
Neuroscience
Mar 08, 2012 |
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Meth vaccine shows promising results in early tests
Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have performed successful tests of an experimental methamphetamine vaccine on rats. Vaccinated animals that received the drug were largely protected from ...
Psychology & Psychiatry
Nov 01, 2012 |
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Party drug's brain tricks explained for first time
(Medical Xpress) -- A researcher at the University of Sydney has discovered how the increasingly common street drug mephedrone affects the brain, helping to explain why it is potentially such an addictive substance.
Medical research
Oct 31, 2011 |
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CAMH discovery identifies potential target for anti-craving medications
Scientists at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) have identified a potential target for the development of anti-craving medications for people with addictions to stimulants such as methamphetamine.
Neuroscience
Jan 25, 2012 |
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Children and siblings of deployed military more likely to use drugs
Youth with a deployed military parent or sibling use drugs and alcohol at a higher rate than their peers, finds a new study in American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
Health
Jan 18, 2013 |
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More than other drugs, injected meth is associated with an increased risk of attempted suicide
The dire physical and mental health effects of injecting methamphetamine are well known, but there's been little research about suicidal behavior and injecting meth. In a recent study, researchers at Columbia University's ...
Psychology & Psychiatry
Dec 22, 2011 |
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Methamphetamine
Methamphetamine (/mɛθæm'fɛtəmiːn/ also known as metamfetamine (INN), methylamphetamine, N-methylamphetamine, and desoxyephedrine) is a psychostimulant and sympathomimetic drug.
A member of the family of phenylethylamines, methamphetamine is chiral, with two isomers:
The levorotary form, called levomethamphetamine, is an over-the-counter drug used in inhalers for nasal decongestion. Levomethamphetamine does not possess any significant central nervous system activity or addictive properties. The remainder of this article deals only with the dextrorotatory form, called dextromethamphetamine, and the racemic form.
Methamphetamine enters the brain and triggers a cascading release of dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine. It is highly active in the mesolimbic reward pathways of the brain, inducing intense euphoria, with risk for addiction. To a lesser extent, methamphetamine acts as a dopaminergic and adrenergic reuptake inhibitor with high concentrations serving as a monoamine oxidase inhibitor. Users may become hypersexual or obsessed with a task, thought or activity. Withdrawal is characterized by excessive sleeping, eating, and major depression, often accompanied by anxiety and drug-craving. Methamphetamine users may take sedatives such as benzodiazepines as a means of easing their "come down", anxiety or enable them to sleep.
Methamphetamine has medical uses as well as the potential to cause addiction. Methamphetamine addiction typically occurs when a person begins to use the drug as a stimulant, for its powerful enhancing effects on sex, mood and energy, alertness and ability to concentrate, and weight loss and appetite suppression, among its other psychological and physical effects.[citation needed] Over time tolerance develops, and users have greater difficulty functioning and experiencing pleasure than they did before, which persists indefinitely due to neurotoxicity produced by methamphetamine in long-term recovered addicts.[citation needed]
Nicknames for methamphetamine are numerous and vary significantly from region to region, some common nicknames for methamphetamine include "crank", "meth", "ice", "crystal", "glass", "shabu" or "syabu" (Philippines), "tik" (South Africa), "P" (New Zealand), "piko" (Slovakia), and "yaa baa" (Thailand). Methamphetamine is sometimes referred to as "speed", but this term is generally reserved for regular amphetamine and dextroamphetamine.
For more information about Methamphetamine, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
