Morphine, the active ingredient in all opiates, such as heroin, has a chemical structure similar to endorphins, a class of chemicals present in the brain. Endorphins are feel-good chemicals naturally manufactured in the brain when the body experiences pain or stress. They are called the natural opiates of the body.
Endorphins flood the space between nerve cells and usually inhibit neurons from firing, thus creating an analgesic effect. On a lower level they can excite neurons as well. When endorphins do their work, the organism feels good, high or euphoric and gains relief from pain (analgesia). Normally, endorphin levels go up when a person exercises, goes into labour, is injured or enduring stress.
Like an evil twin, the morphine molecule locks onto the endorphin receptor sites on nerve endings in the brain and begins the succession of events that leads to euphoria or analgesia.
This imposter is more powerful than the body’s own endorphins because the body can actually control how much of the feel-good chemical hits the brain. Since we are all pleasure-seeking organisms, the motivation to self-administer such a drug is easy to understand. The result, of course, is addiction.
When that drug is taken away, neurons that have long been inhibited start pumping out neurotransmitters again. This imbalance of chemicals in the brain interacts with the nervous system to produce the classic opiate withdrawal symptoms: anxiety, cramps, diarrhoea, fever, muscle spasms and nausea. The use of codeine, opium or morphine can relieve the withdrawal symptoms of heroin.
About eight to twelve hours after the last heroin use, an addict’s eyes begin to tear and he/she starts to experience flu-like symptoms: sneezing, weakness, depression, muscle cramps, nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea. The symptoms increase in severity over two to three days. Within a week to 10 days the illness is over.
The phrase ‘cold turkey’ probably comes from the appearance of goose bumps all over the body, which resembles a plucked turkey. Muscle spasms in the legs produce kicking movements and this may be the derivation of the expression ‘kick the habit’.
Dangers of heroin
Because heroin suppresses the central nervous system, the user experiences a foggy mental function. Users will also begin to breathe at a slower rate and their breathing can reach a point of respiratory failure.
Repeated and chronic heroin users who share equipment or fail to use a sterile technique increase the risk of contracting blood-borne infections especially hepatitis, herpes and HIV/AIDS.
They also run the risk of infection of the heart lining and valves and pulmonary complications and kidney disease normally due to lack of a sterile techniques.
Many suffer from skin infections and abscesses, especially among chronic injectors who suffer scarred or collapsed veins. Constipation and gastrointestinal cramping are also common among users.
Heroin is often mixed with sugar, starch, quinine and strychnine or other toxic poisons by dealers trying to increase profits, adding other potential dangers. Because of the unknown strength and actual contents of the heroin they are taking, users are at a great risk of overdose, allergic reaction and death.
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