Brain Disease
By Shae, August 2005
What would you do if you found out your teen had a potentially fatal brain disease? This disease, if not treated, would eventually consume your child for good. Most parents would immediately seek help and go straight to a physician, schedule a surgery, start a diet, whatever it took. Unfortunately, thousands of teens suffer from this disease: it’s called addiction. Does yours?
The brain controls every movement, thought, and feeling we will ever make or have for the rest of our lives. This three pound command center contains various parts such as the occipital lobe, cerebrum, and the limbic system that control every function of the body. If your teen damages this vital organ now, it will cause detrimental effects for the rest of his or her life.
The brain’s job is to process information. Brain cells called neurons receive and send electric messages to and from other neurons. Neurotransmitters start the electrical impulse and release the chemical back into the synapse. When drugs are introduced into the body they have a similar size and shape as these neurotransmitters in the brain. This being so, they trick the brain by causing an unnatural chain reaction of electrical charges. Neurons are then released in large amounts of their own neurotransmitter. This makes the drug user feel an unnatural pleasure or high, however, the continued use of these drugs will cause the brain to reprogram and become addicted.
Drugs such as nicotine, cocaine, and marijuana affect the limbic system in the brain. Scientists call this system the “reward” system. Normally, the limbic system responds to enjoyable experiences by releasing the neurotransmitter dopamine, which creates feelings of pleasure. The first time someone abuses a drug, he or she experiences unnaturally intense feelings of pleasure. The limbic system is flooded with dopamine. The brain starts changing right away. Because they sense more than enough dopamine, for example, neurons begin to reduce the number of dopamine receptors. Neurons may also make less dopamine. The result is less dopamine in the brain. Because some drugs are toxic, some neurons die.
No one knows how many times a person can use a drug before they become addicted. The best medical advice would be not to abuse drugs. By abusing drugs, the addicted teen has changed the way his or her brain works. Drug abuse and addiction lead to long-term changes in the brain. These changes cause addicted drug users to lose the ability to control their drug use. Drug addiction is a disease.
If your child suffers from this disease, get help—before it’s too late.
Sources
- National Institute on Drug Abuse. The Brain: Understanding Neurobiology Through the Study of Addiction. science-education.nih.gov National Institute on Drug Abuse.
- Brain Power! The NIDA Junior Scientists Program www.nih.gov
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