Addiction Recovery Basics

Researchers and scientists are now using Pet scans (positron emission tomography) and other imaging techniques to build pictures and maps of the brain, studying the brains of human Methamphetamine users.

They have discovered that even three years after long term Methamphetamine users had stopped using the drug, their dopamine neurons were still damaged. Scientists are currently uncertain whether this brain damage is permanent, but these studies show that changes in the brain from Meth use can are certainly long lasting. Studies and research with animals has illustrated that the drug Methamphetamine can also damage neurons that contain serotonin. This damage remains evident long after the drug use has ceased.

These changes in serotonin and dopamine neurons may explain some of the over all effects of Meth. Paranoia can result if a person uses Methamphetamine for an extended period. An abuser may have visual and auditory hallucinations, hearing and seeing things that don’t exist. Because Methamphetamine causes large increases in blood pressure, someone using it for a long time may also have permanent damage to blood vessels in the brain and in the heart. This can lead to strokes caused by rupturing blood vessels in the brain. Methamphetamine use disrupts and alters brain chemistry.

Technorati Tags: addiction-brain-disease, Brain/Biology Chemistry, dopamine, methamphetamine, serotonin

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