Normally, the brain releases dopamine in these circuits in response to potential rewards, like the smell of good food. It then recycles back into the cell that released it, shutting off the signal between nerve cells. Because cocaine overdose often leads to a heart attack, stroke, or seizure, first responders and emergency room doctors try to treat the overdose by treating these conditions.
As with other drugs, …show more content…
Symptoms of long-term cocaine abuse can include depression, agitation, nervousness, tiredness but unable to sleep. The person may feel seriously distressed about life without good reason. Both cocaine and crack cocaine can cause brain damage, even when used only a few times. Damage to brain structures can trigger addiction, which is a disease involving the reward circuits and dopamine systems. Abusing this potent drug can cause other kinds of long-term damage as well. Next, the use of cocaine can have serious effects on the user’s heart, all the way up to and including cardiac arrest. Unfortunately, this news is seldom broadcast to cocaine abusers so they know what they are getting into when they use the drug. Because of severe stresses placed on the heart and arteries, heart symptoms can show up even on the first use of the drug, or as a result of infrequent