What Cocaine Does To The Human Body

Here's What Cocaine Does To The Human Body

Last week Wall Street found that it had another cocaine-fueled scandal on its hands when an investment banker's ex-wife accused her husband of intense drug abuse.

Less than a week later, a banker in Hong Kong was arrested as a suspect in the murder of two prostitutes. Police found a small amount of cocaine in his home. 

This isn't necessarily everyday stuff, but it wasn't much of a shock, either. 

Cocaine has been an illicit way for bankers to keep up with clients, parties, and long hours for decades. That has its consequences, though.

Cocaine can harm numerous parts of the human body, from your nasal passages to your sexual stamina. 

Cocaine sparks euphoria and heightens your senses.

For most casual cocaine users, stimulation belies the drug's consumption. According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA), cocaine sparks euphoria and mental alertness, especially to sight, touch, and sound.

The faster the drug is absorbed by the bloodstream, the more intense the effect and the shorter it lasts. 

It triggers the part of your brain responsible for addictive behavior.

University of Michigan neuropsychologists 

found that repeated cocaine use resulted in a hyper-responsive dopamine system, making the drug hard for the brain to ignore.

Dopamine, the chemical in the brain responsible for just about any addictive behavior, is triggered when one is engaged in any deeply pleasurable activity.

It's so addictive you can crave it by watching others do it.

Dr. Nora Volkow, the director of NIDA and the one of country's preeminent experts on addiction, found that dopamine levels jumped even if cocaine addicts were simply watching videos of people using the drug.

It is potentially lethal because it restricts blood to the heart.

A restriction in the flow of oxygenated blood to the heart causes tissue disease and can result in chest pain, heart attacks, and strokes.In their seminal study on the effect of cocaine on the heart, researchers at the Hospital of the Good Samaritan in Los Angeles found that the drug increased heart rate and blood pressure while constricting the arteries supplying blood to the heart.

Its users are more susceptible to heart attacks.

In 1999, researchers at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Bostondiscovered that during the first hour after cocaine use, the user's risk of heart attack increased nearly 24 times.

During a follow-up study in 2008, the researchers found that 10 percent of heart attacks in 18-to-45-year-olds were linked to more than 10 lifetime uses of cocaine. 

It reduces grey matter in the brain.

A study released by University of Cambridge researchers revealed the drug may age key parts of the brain at an accelerated rate. Coauthor Karen Ersche noted users lose grey matter — which help control memory, decision-making and attention — at almost double the rate of nonusers.

It depletes the protein that triggers pleasure, leading to depression.

Chronic cocaine users also run a higher risk of depression, and the drug will have diminishing returns over time.

According to a 2009 study conducted by the Ann Arbor VA Medical Center and the University of Michigan, the drug, over time, shrinks levels of VMAT2, the protein responsible for making dopamine in the brain.

It enhances sex and then destroys your drive.

In the short-term, cocaine can spike sexual arousal and prolong stamina, but as with most addictive substances, long-termaddiction to the drug can result in impotence.

It stifles your appetite, leading to weight loss.

There's data behind the claim that cocaine can make you skinny. 

Using lab rats as research subjects, researchers at the University of Birmingham found that use of the drug delayed feeding as well as the number of meals consumed overall.

It can destroy the inside of your nose and cause respiratory problems.

Cocaine is toxic to the nasal tissue it passes through before it is absorbed into the bloodstream. 

The drug numbs the pain, but it can cause redness, a running nose, and eventually septum damage.

Cocaine metabolites can usually be detected in urine for about 48 hours.

According to an article in the Journal of Analytical Toxicology, cocaine metabolites (benzoylecgonine) can typically be detected in urine for a period of 48 hours. However, that time period could be longer if a person is a chronic user of cocaine, the report said. 

A hair test covers a 90 day time frame when looking for evidence of cocaine use.

Another way of testing for cocaine use is through hair analysis. According to Omega Labs, they would typically take a sample of 1½ inches from the root end. This would give them a 90 day time frame to look for evidence of use of the illicit substance.