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Heroin is one of the most addictive substances in existence, and an addiction to this drug is hard to overcome without help. If you or someone you care about is suffering from a heroin addiction, find treatment and support that can help.

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Drogen oder Alkohol beeinträchtigen Ihr Leben und Ihre psychische Gesundheit? Das DRK hilft Süchtigen mit Therapien und Selbsthilfegruppen.

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https://www.addictioncenter.com/

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Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine (DAM), is an opioid drug made from morphine, a natural substance taken from the seed pod of the various opium poppy plants.

How is heroin consumed?

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Effects of Heroin on Signal Transmission

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Effects of Heroin on Signal Transmission

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Link for video:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/10YONnO9-UbrmJUdcCjoyp2LCG3VrBIGO/view?usp=sharing

Why does the human body even have opioid receptors?

The human body has specific receptor sites for opioid drugs like opium, heroin, codein and morphine. Why did the human body evolve like this? People didn't take heroin thousands of years ago.

Morphines have a similar structure to endorphins, a hormone in our brain. They are called natural opioids. Morphine is an "imposter" of endorphins and is much more powerful than the natural opioid endorphine. The drawback, of course, is addiction.

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1-minute-explainer!
(please open the video in a new window, otherwise the sound might not work)

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Heroin is a highly addictive drug.

The different ways to take the drug, which you can see under the column "How is heroin consumed?", have in common that they send it to the brain very quickly making it very effectively addictive.

The brain then quickly links heroin to the activation of certain feel-good chemicals such as dopamine and endorphins which are consequently excessively released in the brain and cause (amongst other effects) euphoria.

Regular use of heroin can lead to addiction within 2-3 weeks.
At this, people develop tolerance and need more of the drug to achieve the same effects, which leads to a physical dependence on heroin. Hereby higher doses of the drug are used over time, causing the addiction to the drug to develop and intensify (this is because a repeated use of heroin leads to an increased production of opioid receptors).

Once addicted, what may have once seemed like a cheap way to have fun, becomes a necessary habit to function in day-to-day activities and the drug is sought after compulsively.

vocab:
- tolerance: A condition in which higher doses of a drug are required to produce the same effect as during initial use; often leads to physical dependence.
- physical dependence: An adaptive physiological state that occurs with regular drug use and results in a withdrawal syndrome when drug use is stopped; usually occurs with tolerance.
- withdrawal: A variety of symptoms occurring after use of an addictive drug is reduced or stopped.

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As with many drugs, the effect of the drug depends on the amount that is  consumed. When consuming heroin, it feels calming and numbing, however, it can also have a somewhat euphogenic effect. People are in apathy and in a good mood. People consuming heroin take it multiple times a day. The longer a person consumes it, the smaller the effect and higher doses are needed to reach the same effect.