What Effects Does Drug Abuse Have On The Body?

The human body is a delicate, well formed, and extremely complicated set-up of components and processes, working in harmony with each other to ensure the health and safety of the body itself. It is by far the most advanced "thing" on earth, and we are only part of the way through learning and discovering how the inner workings of the body function.

Obviously, when someone has a drug addiction, there are changes which happen within the body. As research has shown, there are two main types of changes which occur:

Psychological changes
Physiological changes

The first, psychological changes - are the fastest changes to occur. They are the main reasons that people take the substances in the first place. You may have heard many drugs referred to as being "mind altering" - and this is exactly the same phrase used for psychological changes.

The second is physiological change - or in other words, physical changes which happen within the body. Unfortunately, these changes are not so obvious immediately after a substance is taken (other than common physical changes such as energy levels, etc). Also unfortunate is that these changes are the most dangerous - and they are the ones which cause long term damage to the body.

What Types Of Physical Changes Occur?

The most fundamental reason why drugs and illicit substances (including alcohol) are bad for you is their effect on the brain. Every single time one of these substances is used, there are a huge number of brain cells which are killed in the process.

The reason for this brain cell massacre is clear. Drugs often prevent information from flowing to and from one particular part of the brain. This cut off causes the pleasurable feelings that you get when using illicit substances, but the mechanism is the danger.

By cutting off the supply of oxygen to certain parts of the brain, and by killing brain cells in the process, there are less brain cells left overall. Simple neuroscience tells us that it is very difficult for the brain to grow new connections and cells whilst drugs are present - and hence, the long term effect of a drug addiction can be highly dangerous.

Over time, the number of brain cells killed mounts up - and if chronic drug abuse is present, these changes will be irreversible.

What Effects Does Drug Abuse Have On The Body?

What Types Of Physical Changes Occur?

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