Drugs and health
Alcohol is sold in any supermarket and people smoke in the street without anyone batting an eyelid. Just because a substance is legal does not mean it is harmless to your body, still less while your brain is still finishing its development.
What a drug is
A coffee in the morning wakes you up, an antihistamine syrup makes you drowsy and a glass of alcohol lowers your inhibitions: very ordinary substances cause immediate changes in how we feel and act. What do they all have in common that allows them to alter our body in this way?
Explain what a drug is from the point of view of its effect on the body, and classify these substances as legal or illegal drugs in Spain: alcohol, cannabis, tobacco,…
Explain what a drug is from the point of view of its effect on the body, and classify these substances as legal or illegal drugs in Spain: alcohol, cannabis, tobacco, cocaine, caffeine.
Medicines are also substances that act on the body. Explain the difference between taking them following medical advice and self-medicating, and give an example of a…
Medicines are also substances that act on the body. Explain the difference between taking them following medical advice and self-medicating, and give an example of a risk of self-medication.
Three main groups according to their effect
While a beer slows your reflexes and makes you drowsy, an energy drink speeds up your heartbeat and certain substances make people perceive lights or sounds that do not exist. How does science organise substances with such different, even opposite, effects on our nervous system?
Explain what it means for a drug to cause dependency, and distinguish, using an example, between physical dependency and psychological dependency.
Explain what it means for a drug to cause dependency, and distinguish, using an example, between physical dependency and psychological dependency.
The diagrams represent the effect of the three main groups of drugs on nervous system activity: the dashed grey line shows normal activity and the coloured line shows…
The diagrams represent the effect of the three main groups of drugs on nervous system activity: the dashed grey line shows normal activity and the coloured line shows activity after consumption. Name the group (depressants, stimulants or hallucinogens) that corresponds to each diagram (A, B and C), explain what each one consists of, give an example of each group, and reason why this classification does not take into account whether the drug is legal or illegal.
In the brain reward circuit, neurotransmitters like dopamine generate pleasurable feelings. A psychoactive drug blocks the reuptake of dopamine, causing its…
In the brain reward circuit, neurotransmitters like dopamine generate pleasurable feelings. A psychoactive drug blocks the reuptake of dopamine, causing its concentration in the synapse to multiply artificially.
- a) Predict how the postsynaptic neuron membrane will respond (by decreasing or increasing the number of dopamine receptors) after weeks of continuous consumption to defend itself from this excessive stimulation. Justify why this cellular mechanism explains the phenomenon of tolerance.
- b) Based on your previous answer, deduce why, when the person abruptly stops consumption, they experience intense physical and psychological discomfort (withdrawal syndrome) during normal daily activities.
Tolerance and dependence
Someone who starts by drinking one cup of coffee a day usually needs two or three after a few months to feel the same alertness, and if they have none one day they suffer a bad headache. Why does the body demand ever larger amounts and respond with discomfort when a substance is missing?
Explain what tolerance and withdrawal symptoms are, and how these two phenomena contribute to an addicted person consuming increasingly more of a drug and finding it so…
Explain what tolerance and withdrawal symptoms are, and how these two phenomena contribute to an addicted person consuming increasingly more of a drug and finding it so difficult to quit.
Alcohol and tobacco in adolescence
Describe three effects of tobacco on the respiratory and circulatory systems, and explain why quitting smoking improves health even after many years of smoking.
Describe three effects of tobacco on the respiratory and circulatory systems, and explain why quitting smoking improves health even after many years of smoking.
Alcohol is legal for adults and plays a large role in social life. Explain why, despite this, it is particularly dangerous for adolescents, taking into account that…
Alcohol is legal for adults and plays a large role in social life. Explain why, despite this, it is particularly dangerous for adolescents, taking into account that their brain is still developing, and state two specific consequences of its consumption at this age.
A $45\ \text{kg}$ teenage girl and a $75\ \text{kg}$ adult drink the same amount of alcohol, but she gets drunk sooner. Explain, taking into account body mass and the…
A $45\ \text{kg}$ teenage girl and a $75\ \text{kg}$ adult drink the same amount of alcohol, but she gets drunk sooner. Explain, taking into account body mass and the maturation of her liver and brain, why alcohol affects adolescents more.