What is Heroin and How it is Used - Essay Example

What is Heroin and How it is Used? The article “What is heroin and how it is used?” provides detailed information on what heroin entails. It expounds on the immediate and long term effects of heroin consumption as well as amicable treatments for its addiction. According to the article, heroin is an illegal drug that is highly addictive. The article also postulates that the drug is produced in Mexico and highly abused in America; approximately 700,000 Americans abuse heroin (What is heroin and how it is used?, 2014). According to the article, the effects of the drug range from causing sensation pleasures to clouding of mental functions.

The article also postulates that long-term usage correlates with change of physical as well as physiological structure of the brain that leads to long-term imbalances of vital systems such as neuronal and hormonal systems. According to the article, withdrawal of the drug after long-term use leads to restlessness, insomnia, and muscle and bone pains. The article also claims that withdrawal symptoms also include diarrhea and “cold turkey”. Chronic heroin use may also lead to medical complications such as insomnia, constipation, lung complications such as pneumonia and tuberculosis, as well as mental disorders.

The article also asserts that heroin use makes one to be prone to fatal diseases such as HIV/AIDS (What is heroin and how it is used?, 2014). According to it, this will be as a result of contact with infected fluids through syringes and needles. Additionally, the article also correlates neonatal abstinence syndrome with abuse of heroin. According to it, use of heroin by pregnant mothers leads to heroin finding its way to the fetus through the placenta. To combat the number of deaths caused by heroin overdose, the article claims that the use naloxene is crucial.

According to it, use of an injector by name Evzio ensures the drug addict has injected a single dose of naxolene to the muscles, and as a result reduces cases of overdose. Appropriate methods for treating heroin addiction however include behavioral and pharmacological medications. Reference What is heroin and how it is used? (2014). National Institute on Drug Abuse. Retrieved from http://www.drugabuse.gov/sites/default/files/rrheroin_4_14.pdf