Cocaine is a powerfully addictive stimulant that directly affects the brain. In 2009, 4.8 million Americans age 12 and older had abused cocaine in any form and 1.0 million had abused crack at least once in the year prior to being surveyed. Source: National Survey on Drug Use and Health (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration Web Site).
According to John Henry, Professor of Accident and Emergency Medicine at St Mary's Hospital, London, regular cocaine use can lead to a bulging weakness in the wall of a branch point of the arteries in the brain. This is often called a berry aneurysm. Eventually this aneurysm bursts, and blood pouring out of the leak is known as a subarachnoid haemorrhage ( see image to the left). It can cause major damage to the brain.
In many people this damage can be permanent, leading to difficulty with thought, sight, speech or movement
Use of cocaine in a binge, during which the drug is taken repeatedly and at increasingly high doses, leads to a state of increasing irritability, restlessness, and paranoia. This may result in a full-blown paranoid psychosis, in which the individual loses touch with reality and experiences auditory hallucinations.
Brain is not the only thing that is damaged by cocaine. Bellow are effects this drug has on other parts of human body:
Nose
Cocaine powder is 'snorted' into the nostrils, and although it is rapidly absorbed into the bloodstream, the drug also causes the blood vessels in the lining of the nose passages to shrink. Shortly after use, the blood vessels widen again, and the red, runny stuffed-up nose of the recent user can be a telltale sign.
Repeated cocaine use leads to loss of blood supply to the septum (the thin bony dividing wall between the nostrils) which becomes damaged, leaving a hole between the two nose passages. The bridge of the nose may even collapse.
Liver
Alcohol is often used with cocaine, and the feeling of the 'high' is more marked after using both than after drink on its own.
The effect of cocaine is also longer lasting. The reason for this is that a new chemical is formed in the liver which has similar effects to cocaine but which is longer lasting in the body.
However, this practice has its dangers. Liver damage is more common, and the risk of sudden death is 18 times greater, when alcohol and cocaine are used together than when cocaise is used on its own.
Chest pain
One of the most common reasons for requiring emergency treatment is the enormous tightening of blood vessels, in the coronary arteries and the rest of the body. This deprives the heart of its normal blood supply, putting the user at risk of a heart attack or a heart rhythm disturbance which might cause you to drop dead suddenly.
The shape of the pattern on the electrocardiogram (heart trace) can look worrying to the doctor, especially as it can change from minute to minute. But in most cases it settles down and no major harm results.
Blood pressure
Cocaine releases massive amounts of noradrenaline from the nerve endings, which causes blood vessels right through the body to narrow. This leads to a major surge in blood pressure. To the onlooker, the user looks pale and staring, but there may be no other outward signs of the enormous rise in blood pressure.
The rise in blood pressure is not permanent, but may cause a heart attack or stroke, and repeated use causes long-term damage to the blood vessels.
Blood vessels
One area damaged by long-term cocaine use is the aorta, which is the body's main blood vessel. A surge in blood pressure following cocaine use forces the blood between the inner and outer casings of the aorta and each time the heart pumps this false passage becomes longer and more liable to block off a branch vessel or to burst, with possibly fatal results.
Skin
Some people experience unpleasant crawling feelings under the skin as they are withdrawing from cocaine ('cocaine bugs' or 'snow bugs'). They may describe cocaine bugs as biting, creeping, burning or itching, and may scratch their skin until it bleeds. Although this sensation can be treated to some extent by tranquilliser type drugs, in most cases the user has to wait until it settles down and goes away of its own accord.
Over-heating
A regular cocaine user might suddenly find himself sweating profusely as his body temperature rises dramatically. He pulls his clothes off and tries to cool down with cold water, wet towels or ice. He becomes increasingly agitated, paranoid and confused and might be hallucinating.
He wanders out into the street where this strange, irrational and sometimes vilent behaviour leads to his being restrained by the police. Many peopole with this condition collapse and die while being held down for their own safety.
