BIO 1033 [Chapter 4]
How do most heroin abusers begin using heroin?
Abusing prescription opioids
[T/F] Opioids, such as hydrocodone (Vicodin), usually suppress nausea and vomiting.
False
[T/F] Sedatives are medications used to induce sleep.
False
[T/F] The "stop" switch in the brain, which tells your mind and body that it has had enough and functions to turn off the brain's "go switch," is located in the brain stem.
False
[T/F] The majority of heroin available in the United States comes from Afghanistan.
False
[T/F] The number of people in the United States who overdose on heroin is greater than the number who overdose on any other type of opioid, including hydrocodone, oxycodone, and methadone.
False
[T/F] The primary illegitimate source for obtaining prescription drugs, such as OxyContin, Vicodin, and Xanax, is over the Internet.
False
[T/F] Z-hypnotics like Sonata, Ambien, and Imovane, are short-acting, but they are thought to have a higher risk of addiction than most benzodiazepines.
False
[T/F] Most sedative-hypnotics are from natural sources.
False; all modern prescription sedative-hypnotics are synthetic
How could one describe the building of tolerance of opiates/opioids?
Tolerance to opiates/opioids develops rapidly, with users being able to tolerate great amounts within just a few days
[T/F] Acute withdrawal from heroin is not as life-threatening as acute withdrawal from alcohol or sedative-hypnotics.
True
What are the drugs found in Suboxone?
Buprenorphine/naloxone
How long can withdrawal symptoms following detoxification and abstinence from long-acting opioids such as methadone persist?
14 or more days after detoxification
Why is it dangerous to combine an opioid with a downer like alcohol, barbiturates, or benzodiazepines?
Because the combination of depressants creates a synergistic effect that increases the potential for respiratory depression, overdose, and death
How would one best describe the effects that depressants have on the the body due to its effects on the central nervous system?
Depressants decrease rate of breathing and heart rate
"Nociceptive" means pain caused by what?
External stimuli of pain receptors
[T/F] Addiction to and withdrawal from benzodiazepines is not generally severe.
False
[T/F] Alcohol is a major stimulant.
False
[T/F] Depressants affect the central nervous system by elevating the user's blood pressure, pulse, heart rate, and respiration.
False
[T/F] Heroin and morphine are considered long-acting opioids.
False
[T/F] Opioids, particularly heroin, affect only a select few of the body's organs, mainly the heart, liver, and kidneys.
False
[T/F] Benzodiazepines are used by sexual predators to increase sexual desires in their victims.
False; while benzodiazepines may lower a users ability to make clear decisions, they do not increase sexual desire
What is the drug found in OxyContin?
Oxycodone
What is the drug found in Percocets?
Oxycodone (as well as paracetamol [Tylenol])
[T/F] One of the symptoms of chronic opiate use is itchy skin.
True
[T/F] Opiates limit the release of and block receptors for substance P, which is the name of the neurotransmitter that transmits pain messages from nerve cell to nerve cell.
True
[T/F] Overdose deaths involving opioids most commonly include their combined use with other substances like alcohol, benzodiazepines, or antidepressants.
True
[T/F] The major receptor sites for opioids are the mu, delta, kappa, and nociceptin.
True
What are the three major classes of depressants?
Alcohol, opiates, and sedative-hypnotics
What is the drug found in Vicodin?
Hydrocodone (as well as paracetamol [Tylenol])
Of 1,033 new drugs approved by the FDA between 1989 and 2000, what percentage (%) showed no significant clinical improvement over older and cheaper drugs already in use?
More than 50%
What drug is an opioid antagonist that may be used to prevent an opioid overdose?
Naloxone, sold under the trade name Narcan
Hyperalgesia is a temporary increase in the sensitivity to ________ that is experienced during the long-term use of opiates/opioids used to treat pain.
Painful stimuli
What purity (given in percentage [%]) can street heroin in the United States vary between?
The DEA estimates heroin purchased can be between 10-70% pure
The "synergistic effect" of drugs refers to what?
The combination of two or more depressant drugs, which magnifies their effect on the CNS
[T/F] Death from depressants (e.g. opioids, alcohol) overdose usually involves severe respiratory depression.
True; severe respiratory depression is the major cause of depressant drug overdose death
[T/F] Needing a dose of a drug just to feel "normal" is a sign of tolerance.
False; this is a sign of addiction
[T/F] Benzodiazepine sedative-hypnotics generally have a higher margin of overdose safety than other drugs in this depressant category.
True
[T/F] Drug tolerance to benzodiazepines develops in part due to the increased efficiency of the liver in processing (metabolizing) a drug that is used regularly.
True
[T/F] Heroin was first developed to be a non-addictive medical alternative to morphine.
True
[T/F] Historically, most drug laws were made for political rather than medical considerations.
True
[T/F] Human beings have naturally occurring (endogenous) opioids, which cause many of the same effects as those caused by taking opioid drugs (exogenous opioids).
True
[T/F] Tolerance to one type of depressant, such as alcohol, can lead to the development of cross-tolerance for another depressant, such as benzodiazepines.
True
[T/F] Treatment for addiction to opiates requires a physiological and psychological process.
True
[T/F] Using a needle continuously to inject drugs in the same blood vessels traumatizes them, causing them to become unusable for injection.
True
[T/F] Opiate addiction was first documented about 100 years ago.
False; it was first documented about 2,500 years ago
[T/F] An individual who is under the influence of heroin will have dilated pupils.
False; they will generally be constricted
[T/F] Allodynia is a painful response to a normally pain-free stimulus, often as a result of long-term opiate/opoid use.
True