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Opiate overdose symptoms and signs can be referred to as the "opioid toxidrome triad": decreased level of consciousness, pinpoint pupils and respiratory depression. Other symptoms include seizures and muscle spasms. Sometimes an opiate overdose can lead to such a decreased level of consciousness such that the person will not wake up.
Alcohol can exacerbate the symptoms and may directly contribute to increased severity of symptoms. The reasons for toxicity vary depending on the mixture of drugs. Usually, most victims die after using two or more drugs in combination that suppress breathing, and the low blood oxygen level causes brain death .
[56] [78] As a result of downregulated signaling through these proteins, opiates cause VTA neuronal hyperexcitability and shrinkage (specifically, the size of the neuronal soma is reduced). [56] It has been shown that when an opiate-naive person begins using opiates in concentrations that induce euphoria, BDNF signaling increases in the VTA. [79]
Morphine withdrawal is considered less dangerous than alcohol, barbiturate, or benzodiazepine withdrawal. [55] [56] The psychological dependence associated with morphine addiction is complex and protracted. Long after the physical need for morphine has passed, addicts will usually continue to think and talk about the use of morphine (or other ...
The terms 'opioid' and 'opiate' are sometimes used interchangeably, but the term 'opioid' is used to designate all substances, both natural and synthetic, that bind to opioid receptors in the brain. [4] Opiates are alkaloid compounds naturally found in the opium poppy plant Papaver somniferum. [5] [6]
Opioid-induced hyperalgesia (OIH) or opioid-induced abnormal pain sensitivity, also called paradoxical hyperalgesia, is an uncommon condition of generalized pain caused by the long-term use of high dosages of opioids [1] such as morphine, [2] oxycodone, [3] and methadone. [4] [5] OIH is not necessarily confined to the original affected site. [6]
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While prohibited drugs are generally viewed as being the most dangerous, the misuse of prescription drugs is linked to more deaths in several countries. [ 12 ] [ 16 ] Cocaine and heroin combined caused fewer deaths than prescriptions drugs in the United Kingdom in 2013, [ 17 ] [ 18 ] and fewer deaths than prescription opiates alone in the ...