Pills Kill.

The pills, they kill. Drugs can have a variety of affects depending on the drug, the user, and their circumstances. Learn about the short- and long-term consequences of medications as well as how your body processes them. Drug use can have an impact on not only your physical and emotional health, but also your entire life. One tablet can be fatal.

Chemicals that have an impact on the body and brain are drugs. Drugs can have a variety of impacts. Long-lasting and permanent health problems are among some of a drug’s side effects. Even after the person has stopped using the drug, they may still go on.

The three main methods of drug consumption are injection, inhalation, and ingestion. The way a medicine is administered affects your body differently. For instance, although ingesting a medicine has a delayed effect, injecting it directly into the bloodstream provides an immediate effect. However, the brain is impacted by all medicines that are overused. They cause the brain to experience a “high” by flooding it with a lot of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that helps control our emotions, motivation, and pleasure experiences. Drugs have the potential to alter how the way the brain functions can affect a person’s capacity for decision-making, resulting in strong cravings and compulsive drug usage. This conduct has the potential to develop into a drug addiction over time.

Today, one in four fatalities is related to the use of illicit drugs, and more than 7 million people suffer from an illicit drug disorder. In actuality, drug misuse is more closely linked to illnesses, disabilities, and fatalities than any other illness that can be avoided. Drug and alcohol addicts are more likely to sustain unintended injuries, be involved in accidents, and experience domestic violence.

Drugs affect your life. It’s not just your physical body and heath, they also impact your mental, social health along with how you manage your finances, relationships and sometimes can even lead to how you manage your criminal record. Depending on the drug’s kind, each one has a unique bodily effect. Some will energize you and awaken your senses. Others will make you feel at ease and at peace. Some affect how you perceive things and may result in hallucinations. Others might leave you cold. Larger doses and prolonged usage have side effects that can gravely hurt your health and even result in death. These effects include the danger of infection from sharing needles, lasting brain and organ damage, and illness risks.

So how does your body process these drugs?

The human body processes drugs in 4 unique stages:

Absorption

Drugs are absorbed into your bloodstream when you take them. The way you ingested the drug will determine how quickly this happens.

Distribution

Once a drug enters your bloodstream, it circulates throughout your body, reaching your brain and various organs. Depending on the drug type, the drug alters brain chemicals and receptors to produce a variety of effects.

Metabolism

The drug is then metabolized by your body or broken down into smaller molecules (known as metabolites) that may be excreted more quickly. These metabolites occasionally have an impact on your body as well.

Excretion

Drugs that have been metabolized pass through your digestive tract and leave your body, typically in urine or feces.
A drug’s elimination time in your body varies. It relies on a variety of elements, including the substance itself (the quantity, potency, etc.), as well as you personally (your metabolism, age, health, environment, etc).

The effects on the health

There are several short- and long-term health repercussions of substance use disorders. They can differ based on the kind of medication, how much and how frequently it is used, and the patient’s overall condition. Overall, substance misuse and dependency can have significant negative impacts. They have the potential to affect practically all bodily organs. Death is one of the most serious effects of drug misuse on health. The greatest increase in deaths has been associated with heroin and synthetic opioids. 212,000 adults and children 12 and older consumed heroin for the initial time in the previous 12 months. Over 90 Americans lose their lives each day as a result of an opioid overdose.

Aaumuktha Yalamanchili, Youth Medical Journal 2023