The Russians were told about drugs that can cause addiction

Any drug can be addictive, but there are drugs to which physical dependence occurs relatively quickly – for example, vasoconstrictor drugs, hypnotics, antihypertensives, painkillers. This was told to PRIME by a senior researcher at the Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Radiobiology of the Russian National Research Medical University. N.I. Pirogov Vladimir Rogovsky.

According to him, there are two main types of addiction – mental and physical. Psychological dependence is when a person experiences some pleasant feelings after taking a drug and wants to get them again. Physical dependence is when the body itself gets so used to the drug that it uses it for its own needs. That is, it produces less of its internal regulatory substances, and uses medicine instead, the specialist explained. And when, when taking the same dose, the effect of the drug decreases, we can talk about addiction (tolerance).

As Rogowski noted, doctors often prescribe medications for constant use (for example, for diabetes, hypertension, and other diseases). In these cases, according to the expert, physical dependence is a given. “For the patient, this means that, most likely, it will not be possible to suddenly stop the drug – you need to act gradually so that there is no rebound effect when the symptoms worsen sharply after the drug is discontinued,” explains the pharmacologist.

“Psychic addiction, which often occurs specifically to psychotropic drugs, is caused not only by various substances prohibited in free circulation, but also by more harmless ones – nicotine, caffeine, and even sugar, not to mention alcohol,” the expert says.

At the same time, he stated, you have to pay for everything. If a person drips nose drops constantly, they bring relief, you can breathe through your nose. But each time they help worse and worse – you have to drip more. And the body reacts in a complex way – on the one hand, it became easier for us to breathe, but on the other hand, there is a gradual sclerosis – a local proliferation of connective tissue in response to vasoconstriction. As a result, this aggravates nasal congestion, and at some point the drops no longer help.

“It is the same with any other medicine – there are negative consequences from constant use. Somewhere the body pays with damage to the liver, somewhere the kidneys, ”the expert clarifies.

According to him, to get rid of drug addiction, you need to see a doctor. Strategies for getting rid of addiction can be different – as a rule, this is a gradual decrease in the dose of the substance that causes addiction. Sometimes abrupt termination is advisable. In parallel, psychological help may also be needed – especially if the dependence is not only physical, but also mental.

“Dealing with addictions is very difficult – such a struggle can go on for years. The best way is not to bring it to this, understanding what the uncontrolled intake of various substances will lead to, ”concluded Rogovsky.