European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - November 23, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Drug  Potter and Ortla Tny Anig Bufo hotline. In Medicine i the brain producing these endogenous opiates said Snyder. Some of these substances am already being studied of heir medical value. One. Known As Dyn Orphin. Seems to have a beneficial effect Lor treating strokes perhaps by lowering blood pressure. Natural opiates were discovered after scientists found heroin and other drugs in the opiate family worked because they could be 1aken up by cells in the brain in Routi proteins in the cells known As receptors. Cell in the brain known As neurons convey information through chemicals called neurotransmitter a which jump across the Liny Gap Between nerve cells dubbed synapses. When neurotransmitters Cross synapses and land on a Neuron they produce a minute electrical impulse thai activates the cell.  can activate certain nerve cells because a receptor is present thai is specific for the neurotransmitter. It s like a Feck and  said Snyder. The receptor is the lock on the tax and heroin is the key. The heroin molecule or one like it is the Only one that will fit the  in 1973, receptors were isolated that were specific for opiate drugs. Scientists have now identified what they believe Are the three major classes of human opiate receptors my Kappa and Delta. The brain cells Moat affected by opiates seem to be in an older part of the mid brain known As ventral Teg Montal which appeals to control pleasure and pain. But what occurs after the nerve cells Are activated to actually produce the High is unknown. And Why users need More and More and become addicted is largely speculation. If i knew that i d probably be in line for a Nobel prize. We really Don t know what causes the High said Roger p. Maickel a researcher in the department of pharmacology at Purdue University. Because the body lends to seek an equilibrium one theory la thai chronic opiate use causes the brain to Stop producing natural opiates. Thai would explain Why addicts need increasingly larger doses of heroin to get the same effect. When us idd tet it opt ii becomes very painful because the body s Normal mechanism Lor regulating pain has become suppressed said Snyder. Some researchers Are also investigating whether those most Likely to use and become addicted to opiates have naturally under Euve opiate systems. These Are people who if you talk to them Don t feel Good generally then by Accident through the environment they Are in. They become exposed to opiates. The opiates make them feel Normal " Snyder said. It s like the diabetic who does t produce enough insulin. So they take it artificially. Heroin use May be a form of  cocaine apparently works by stimulating production of three neurotransmitters dopamine serotonin and noradrenaline. Normally these neurotransmitters Are involved in regulating moods. The drug also apparently blocks the recycling of these neurotransmitters. Because the brain needs to reuse neurotransmitters to produce More chronic cocaine use eventually causes a Doar Errol the substances. It s like the brain is a big sopping wet sponge said Rosecan. Director of the cocaine abuse treatment program at the medical Center. When you add cocaine it s like squeezing the sponge. The juice squished out. When you use cocaine repeatedly the sponge does t have Lime to Replete itself and you squeeze it dry he said when users Stop consuming cocaine they eel depressed because they Lack  that Are normally regulating their moods. Receptors for the cocaine real by neurotransmitter May also proliferate As brain cells begin calling out for the  increasing desire for the substances and or cocaine. Rosecan said. Cocaine affects Many parts of the brain including an older part that controls emotions known As the limbic system. If you give animals unlimited Access to cocaine they will consistently seek cocaine in preference to food water and sax said Rosecan. It s the Only drug on Earth that animals will self administer to  a addition to its effects on the brain cocaine is a stimulant that makes the heart and other organs work harder. That can Lead to heart attacks strokes and seizures in some users for reasons still unclear Crnek a highly purify form of lha drug usually smoked amplifies All these effects. Because it is smoked crack has the added danger of increasing chances of developing emphysema. Doctors have had some Success treating cocaine addicts with pills containing the amino adds l tryptophan and a Tyrosine these building blocks for the  enable the brain to replace lost  taster. Addicts Are also Given drugs such As Imi praline an anti depressant thai reduces craving for cocaine while the neurotransmitters Are replenished. Compared to opiates such As heroin and stimulants Auch As cocaine alcohol has a less specific effect on brain cells according to Boris Tabakoff. Scientific director for the National Institute on alcohol abuse and alcoholism. A smaller molecule alcohol interferes with the transmission of information in the brain by disrupting cell membranes. Cells that seem to be most sensitive to alcohol use the Neuron Gansmiller norepinephrine which is important Lor controlling sleep and arousal and entered at the base of the brain called the locus Cerulus Small amounts of alcohol appear to stimulate norepinephrine creating feelings of being uninhibited. But when blood alcohol Levels increase norepinephrine becomes depressed causing drowsiness. Alcohol apparently also activates another sedating neurotransmitter known As Gaba. Alcohol effect Are balanced to some degree by the effect on the Neuron Gansmiller serotonin which stimulates activities such As hunger and thirst you have a balance of effects. You have certain affects that stimulate and other systems that depress the brain said Tabakoff. That s really one of the things that determine individual response to alcohol Why some people just fall asleep and other people Are  genetics has been shown to play a Strong role in who becomes an alcoholic. Researcher Yetteve the balance of the Gabba norepinephrine and serotonin systems May be inherited. Some people bulk up a tolerance for alcohol and need increasing amounts to attain the same effects because the brain somehow adapts to the chronic presence of alcohol. One Way the brain adapts May be through the hormone Vaso Prestin. It is involved in the production of urine watch to one of the reasons drinking makes people urinate. But Vas Opreesh is also important in memory and Slutes with animate indicate Vaso Pusin May bean important Factor in the development o tolerance. When Seco Holica Stop Drin Wing they experience painful sometimes deadly withdrawals apparently As their bodies must suddenly Cope with an absence it alcohol. The stars and stripes Page is