KOÇ SCHOOL 2021-2022

NAME: I.TERM I. BOOKLET

CLASS:

HEALTH BOOKLET I: ABUSE AND ADDICTION

• When you were younger, the adults in your life made most of your decisions for you. But
that's changed. You make most of your decisions now. You're in control of the direction
your life takes. So, where is your life going? What do you want to be? What do you value?

• These are huge questions, with no easy answers. Making the best decisions involves
having accurate information, thinking about how different parts of your life affect the
choices you make, and discovering ways to change those patterns if you want to.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS:

I-Understanding Tobacco Abuse and Addiction……………………………………………………….................... 1
-Health effects of smoking among young people and pregnant women…………………………………...……...2
-Quitting Smoking…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..……4

II- Understanding Alcohol Abuse and Addiction……………………………………………………………..……….4

III- Understanding Drug Abuse and Addiction……………………………………………………………………......5

-What is drug addiction?........................................................................................................................................................6
-What Happens to Your Brain When You Take Drugs?............................................................................................6
-Why Do Some People Become Addicted While Others Do Not?..........................................................................7
-Prevention is the key…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………8

REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………8

UNDERSTANDING TOBACCO USE AND ADDICTION

Not only does smoking impact your health now, but it also affects the direction your life and health take in
the future. Tobacco use is one of the biggest public health threats the world has ever faced. Here are some facts
about tobacco use:
There are more than one billion smokers in the world.

• Globally, use of tobacco products is increasing, although it is decreasing in high-income countries.

• Almost half of the world's children breathe air polluted by tobacco smoke.
• More than 80% of the world's smokers live in low- and middle-income countries.
• Tobacco use kills 5.4 million people a year - an average of one person every six seconds – and accounts for
one in 10 adult deaths worldwide.
• Tobacco kills up to half of all users.
• It is a risk factor for six of the eight leading causes of deaths in the world.
• 100 million deaths were caused by tobacco in the 20th century. If current trends continue, there will be up
to one billion deaths in the 21st century.
• Unchecked, tobacco-related deaths will increase to more than eight million a year by 2030, and 80% of those
deaths will occur in the developing world.

Tobacco products are products made entirely or partly of leaf tobacco as raw material, which are intended
to be smoked, sucked, chewed or snuffed. All contain the highly addictive ingredient, nicotine. A smoking
addiction means a person has formed
an uncontrollable dependence on
cigarettes to the point where stopping
smoking would cause severe emotional,
mental, or physical reactions. Everyone
knows that smoking is harmful and
addictive, but few people realize just
how risky and addictive it is. Tobacco
smoke is a mixture of gases and small
particles made up of water, tar and
nicotine. The tar is a thick, brownish,
messy mixture of hundreds of toxic
chemicals. The chemicals that cause
cancer are mainly in the tar. Many of the
gases in tobacco smoke are harmful.

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These include carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, ammonia, and other toxic irritants. More than 4,000 chemical
compounds have been identified in tobacco smoke. When tobacco is burned and inhaled, one of the 4,000 or
more chemicals that enter the body is CO (carbon monoxide). Carbon monoxide decreases the oxygen-carrying
capacity of red blood cells.

Nicotine is the substance in tobacco that causes addiction. It is absorbed and enters the bloodstream, through
the lungs when smoke is inhaled, and through the lining of the mouth when tobacco is chewed or used as oral
snuff or for non-inhaled pipe and cigar smoking. Nicotine has stimulant effects on the electrical activity of the
brain. It also has calming effects, especially at times of stress, as well as effects on hormonal and other systems
throughout the body.

Nicotine is a central nervous system stimulant and it causes activation of "pleasure centers" in the brain which
may explain the addictiveness of smoking. Smokers develop tolerance to nicotine and can take higher doses
without feeling sick than when they first started smoking. Many of the unpleasant effects of
cigarette withdrawal are due to lack of nicotine. Symptoms of nicotine withdrawal include irritability, nausea,
anxiety, headache, depression, and difficulty in concentration.
Smoking can also affect the health of nonsmokers.Second-hand smoke is the smoke that fills restaurants, offices
or other enclosed spaces when people burn tobacco products such as cigarettes and water pipes. There is no safe
level of exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke.
• In adults, second-hand smoke causes serious cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, including coronary
heart disease and lung cancer.
• In infants, it causes sudden death.
• In pregnant women, it causes low birth weight.
• Almost half of children regularly breathe air polluted by tobacco smoke in public places.
• Over 40% of children have at least one smoking parent. Most new smokers in the United States are
children and teenagers.
• In 2004, children accounted for 28% of the deaths attributable to second-hand smoke.

Health effects of smoking among young people and pregnant women:
Among young people, the short-term health consequences of smoking include respiratory and non- respiratory
effects, addiction to nicotine, and the associated risk of other drug use. Long-term health consequences of youth
smoking are reinforced by the fact that most young people who smoke regularly continue to smoke throughout
adulthood.

Cigarette smokers have a lower level of lung function than those persons who have never smoked. Smoking
reduces the rate of lung growth. In adults, cigarette smoking causes heart disease and stroke. Studies have shown
that early signs of these diseases can be found in adolescents who smoke.

Smoking hurts young people's physical fitness in terms of both performance and endurance—even among young
people trained in competitive running. On average, someone who smokes a pack or more of cigarettes each day
lives 7 years less than someone who never smoked. The resting heart rates of young adult smokers are two to
three beats per minute faster than nonsmokers.
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Smoking at an early age increases the risk of lung cancer. For most smoking-related cancers, the risk rises as the
individual continues to smoke. Teenage smokers suffer from shortness of breath almost three times as often as
teens that don't smoke, and produce phlegm more than twice as often as teens who don't smoke. Teenage
smokers are more likely to have seen a doctor or other health professionals for an emotional or psychological
complaint. Teens who smoke are three times more likely than nonsmokers to use alcohol, eight times more likely
to use marijuana, and 22 times more likely to use cocaine. Smoking is associated with a host of other risky
behaviors, such as fighting and engaging in unprotected sex.

Smoking is linked with many diseases and problems besides cancer. These include heart disease. Stroke,
emphysema, bronchitis, asthma, cataracts, respiratory infections, bone diseases, even having bad quality sperm.
Women who smoke may have more trouble getting pregnant than nonsmokers. The good news is that the chance
of getting pregnant goes back to normal when they quit smoking. They also lower their risk for many other
serious health problems.

Smoking cigarettes doubles a woman's risk of bleeding too much during delivery, which can put both mom and
baby in danger. Quitting lowers their risk of bleeding, making a better chance of a safe delivery. Pregnant smokers
are more likely to give birth before their baby has had a chance to fully develop in the womb. If your baby is born
too early, he or she may face serious health problems right away, disabilities (such as cerebral palsy, mental
retardation, and more likely to have problems in school) that will never go away, and even death. Fortunately,
quitting smoking decreases the chance of going into labor before the baby is ready.

Babies of moms who smoke during and after pregnancy are 2 to 3 times more likely to die from SIDS (sudden
infant death syndrome, also called (“crib death”) than babies with non-smoking moms. When the mother stops
smoking during pregnancy, their baby has less of a chance of dying from SIDS. Smoking during pregnancy
increases the chances of the baby having serious birth defects or disabilities, such as heart defects, short arms or
legs, clubfoot, or cleft palate. Babies born with these problems require a lot of extra care and may need corrective
surgeries throughout their lifetime. Luckily, quitting smoking before or early in pregnancy lowers the chance of
your baby developing a serious physical birth defect.

Smoking during pregnancy slows the growth of the baby before it is born and increases the chance of having a
low-birth-weight baby (weighs less than 5½ pounds). Low-birth-weight babies often have health problems as a
result of being born so small. Quitting smoking before getting pregnant reduces the chance of having a low-birth-
weight baby to the same chance of a woman who never smoked. However, quitting during pregnancy also helps
the baby grow and have a healthy weight.

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Quitting smoking

Tobacco use is the most common preventable cause of death. About half of the
people who don't quit smoking will die of smoking-related problems. Soon
after you quit, your circulation begins to improve, and your blood pressure
starts to return to normal. Your sense of smell and taste return, and it's easier
for you to breathe. In the long term, giving up smoking can help you live longer.
Your risk of getting cancer decreases with each year you stay smoke-free.
There are many ways to quit smoking. Some people benefit from step-by-step
manuals, counseling, or medicines or products that help reduce nicotine
addiction.

Here is some good news from the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr Margaret Chan.
During a speech she gave in Istanbul, Turkey on World No Tobacco Day, 31 May, she said “Today, people in Turkey
breathe more easily than they did just a few years ago.” She went on to point out that in the year 2000, 20% of
patients hospitalized in Turkey had a smoking-induced disease and that such diseases accounted for more than
half of all hospital deaths. More than half of all Turkish men were daily smokers. By 2008, however, Turkey
benefited from some of the most stringent tobacco control measures in the world making indoor spaces 100%
smoke free. The impact on health has been clear with a 20% drop in the smoking related hospital admissions and
smoking prevalence down to 27%. As a result of all these actions taken by the government, Turkey became the
only country in the world to have received three WHO awards for achievements in tobacco control.

II-UNDERSTANDING ALCOHOL USE AND ADDICTION

With 7 calories per gram, the number of calories in alcohol is second only after fat (9 cals/g). The calories in
alcohol are metabolized first by the body, ahead of burning fat - which is not desirable if on a weight loss diet.

When an alcohol-containing drink is consumed, the alcohol is quickly absorbed in the blood by diffusion and is
then transported to the tissues and throughout the water-containing portions of the body as part of the process
of distribution. About 20 percent of the alcohol is absorbed through the stomach, and about 80 percent is
absorbed through the upper portion of the small intestine.

Metabolism refers to the process by which the body breaks down food to extract energy from it. The primary
site of alcohol metabolism is the liver. Only a tiny fraction (less than 10 percent) of the alcohol consumed is not
metabolized and is excreted from the body in breath, sweat, and urine.6 This process of metabolism and excretion
is known as elimination. The concentration of alcohol in breath and urine mirrors the concentration of alcohol in
blood. This means that alcohol in breath can be detected, measured, and used to calculate a person’s blood
alcohol concentration (BAC). The BAC calculation is the standard means
of determining the extent of a person’s alcohol impairment.

Once consumed, alcohol enters the bloodstream and becomes distributed

throughout the body. Although heavy drinking is most commonly associated
with liver damage, it can also affect the digestive, cardiovascular, immune,
and endocrine systems. Chronic alcohol abuse takes a greater physical toll on
women than on men. Women alcoholics have death rates 50 to 100 percent
higher than men alcoholics. Women alcoholics also have a higher
percentage of death due to alcohol-related injuries, suicides, circulatory

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disorders and cirrhosis of the liver. Excessive drinking can harm nearly every organ in the body; however, it is
most commonly associated with liver damage. The liver is especially sensitive to the effects of alcohol because it
receives blood directly from the intestines, the major site of alcohol absorption. The liver is the primary site of
alcohol metabolism, yet a number of the byproducts of this metabolism are toxic to the liver itself. Accumulation
of these byproducts leads to alcohol-induced liver damage, which can take the form of either inflammation or
much worse as liver scarring (cirrhosis). Often both types of damage exist within the same person. Alcohol abuse
is the leading cause of liver-related deaths in the United States. It is estimated that over 2 million people suffer
from some form of alcoholic liver disease.

Binge drinking used to mean drinking heavily over several days. Now, however, the term refers to the heavy
consumption of alcohol over a short period of time (just as binge eating means a specific period of uncontrolled
overeating). Today the generally accepted definition of binge drinking in the United States is the consumption of
five or more drinks in a row by men — or four or more drinks in a row by women — at least once in the previous
2 weeks.

III- UNDERSTANDING DRUG ABUSE AND ADDICTION

People take drugs because they want to change something

about their lives. Here are some of the reasons young people
have given for taking drugs:

• To fit in
• To escape or relax
• To relieve boredom
• To seem grown up
• To rebel
• To experiment


They think drugs are a solution. But eventually, the drugs become the problem. Many people do not understand
why or how other people become addicted to drugs. It is often mistakenly assumed that drug abusers lack moral
principles or willpower and that they could stop using drugs simply by choosing to change their behavior. In
reality, drug addiction is a complex disease, and quitting takes more than good intentions or a strong will. In fact,
because drugs change the brain in ways that foster compulsive drug abuse, quitting is difficult, even for those
who are ready to do so. Through scientific advances, we know more about how drugs work in the brain than ever,
and we also know that drug addiction can be successfully treated to help people stop abusing drugs and lead
productive lives.

Drug abuse and addiction have negative consequences for individuals and for society. Estimates of the total
overall costs of substance abuse in the United States, including productivity and health- and crime-related costs
exceed $600 billion annually. This includes approximately $193 billion for illicit drugs, $193 billion for tobacco,

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and $235 billion for alcohol. As staggering as these numbers are, they do not fully describe the breadth of
destructive public health and safety implications of drug abuse and addiction, such as family disintegration, loss
of employment, failure in school, domestic violence, and child abuse.

What Is Drug Addiction?
Addiction is a chronic, often relapsing brain
disease that causes compulsive drug seeking and
use, despite harmful consequences to the addicted
individual and to those around him or her.
Although the initial decision to take drugs is
voluntary for most people, the brain changes that
occur over time challenge an addicted person’s
self-control and hamper his or her ability to resist
intense impulses to take drugs.

Fortunately, treatments are available to help
people counter addiction’s powerful disruptive
effects. Research shows that combining addiction
treatment medications with behavioral therapy is
the best way to ensure success for most patients.
Treatment approaches that are tailored to each
patient’s drug abuse patterns and any co-
occurring medical, psychiatric, and social
problems can lead to sustained recovery and a life
without drug abuse.

Drug detoxification (physiological process) is made by our one of the most important organs liver is the first step
in a comprehensive rehab program that offers all the tools required for recovery. The focus of detoxification is
physiological healing after long-term drug addiction.

Similar to other chronic, relapsing diseases, such as diabetes, asthma, or heart disease, drug addiction can be
managed successfully. And as with other chronic diseases, it is not uncommon for a person to relapse and begin
abusing drugs again. Relapse, however, does not signal treatment failure—rather, it indicates that treatment
should be reinstated or adjusted or that an alternative treatment is needed to help the individual regain control
and recover.

What Happens to Your Brain When You Take Drugs?

Drugs contain chemicals that tap into the brain’s communication system and disrupt the way nerve cells normally
send, receive, and process information. There are at least two ways that drugs cause this disruption: (1) by
imitating the brain’s natural chemical messengers –central nervous system and (2) by over stimulating the
“reward circuit” of the brain.

Some drugs have a similar structure to chemical messengers called neurotransmitters, which are naturally
produced by the brain. This similarity allows the drugs to “fool” the brain’s receptors and activate nerve cells to
send abnormal messages. Other drugs, can cause the nerve cells to release abnormally large amounts of natural
neurotransmitters (mainly dopamine) or to prevent the normal recycling of these brain chemicals, which is
needed to shut off the signaling between neurons. The result is a brain awash in dopamine, a neurotransmitter
present in brain regions that control movement, emotion, motivation, and feelings of pleasure. The
overstimulation of this reward system, which normally responds to natural behaviors linked to survival (eating,
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spending time with loved ones, etc.), produces euphoric effects in response to psychoactive drugs. This reaction
sets in motion a reinforcing pattern that “teaches” people to repeat the rewarding behavior of abusing drugs.

As a person continues to abuse drugs, the brain adapts to the overwhelming surges in dopamine by producing
less dopamine or by reducing the number of dopamine receptors in the reward circuit. The result is a lessening
of dopamine’s impact on the reward circuit, which reduces the abuser’s ability to enjoy not only the drugs but
also other events in life that previously brought pleasure. This decrease compels the addicted person to keep
abusing drugs in an attempt to bring the dopamine function back to normal, but now larger amounts of the drug
are required to achieve the same dopamine high—an effect known as tolerance.

Long-term abuse causes changes in other brain chemical systems and circuits as well. Glutamate is a
neurotransmitter that influences the reward circuit and the ability to learn. When the optimal concentration of
glutamate is altered by drug abuse, the brain attempts to compensate, which can impair cognitive function. Brain
imaging studies of drug-addicted individuals show changes in areas of the brain that are critical to judgment,
decision making, learning and memory, and behavior control. Together, these changes can drive an abuser to
seek out and take drugs compulsively despite adverse, even devastating consequences—that is the nature of
addiction.

Why Do Some People Become Addicted While Others Do Not?

No single factor can predict whether a person will become addicted to drugs. Risk for addiction is influenced by
a combination of factors that include individual biology, social environment, and age or stage of development.
The more risk factors an individual has, the greater the chance that taking drugs can lead to addiction. For
example:

• Biology. The genes that people are born with—in combination with environmental influences—account for
about half of their addiction vulnerability. Additionally, gender, ethnicity, and the presence of other
mental disorders may influence risk for drug abuse and addiction.

• Environment. A person’s environment includes many different influences, from family and friends to
socioeconomic status and quality of life in general. Factors such as peer pressure, physical and sexual
abuse, stress, and quality of parenting can greatly influence the occurrence of drug abuse and the
escalation to addiction in a person’s life.

• Development. Genetic and environmental factors interact with critical developmental stages in a person’s life
to affect addiction vulnerability. Although taking drugs at any age can lead to addiction, the earlier that

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drug use begins, the more likely it will progress to more serious abuse, which poses a special challenge to
adolescents. Because areas in their brains that govern decision-making, judgment, and self-control are
still developing, adolescents may be especially prone to risk-taking behaviors, including trying drugs of
abuse.

Prevention Is the Key

Some people who need treatment for drug addiction do not receive it because very often they won’t admit
they have a problem. Sometimes they don’t know how to get help or there are a several other reasons. Drug
addiction is a preventable disease. Results from NIDA-funded research have shown that prevention programs
involving families, schools, communities, and the media are effective in reducing drug abuse. Although many
events and cultural factors affect drug abuse trends, when youths perceive drug abuse as harmful, they reduce
their drug taking. Thus, education and outreach are key in helping youth and the general public understands the
risks of drug abuse. Teachers, parents, medical and public health professionals must keep sending the message
that drug addiction can be prevented if one never abuses drugs.

REFERENCES:
• CDC, Preventing Tobacco Use Among Young People—A Report of the Surgeon General, 1994
• Lew EA, Garfinkel L. Differences in Mortality and Longevity by Sex, Smoking Habits and Health Status, Society of
Actuaries Transactions, 1987.

• AJHP, Arday DR, Giovino GA, Schulman J, Nelson DE, Mowery P, Samet JM, et al. Cigarette smoking and self-
reported health problems among U.S. high school seniors, 1982-1989, p. 111-116.
• National Institute of Health, http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/RethinkingDrinking/Rethinking_Drinking.pdf
• National Drug Intelligence Center (2011). The Economic Impact of Il-licit Drug Use on American Society.
Washington D.C.: United States De-partment of Justice. Available
at: http://www.justice.gov/archive/ndic/pubs44/44731/44731p.pdf(PDF, 2.4MB)
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Smoking-Attributable Mortality, Years of Potential Life Lost, and
Productivity Losses—United States, 2000–2004. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Available at:
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5745a3.htm (PDF 1.4MB).
• Rehm, J., Mathers, C., Popova, S., Thavorncharoensap, M., Teerawattananon Y., Patra, J. Global burden of disease and
injury and economic cost attributable to alcohol use and alcohol-use disorders. Lancet, 373(9682):2223–2233, 2009.
• http://teen.smokefree.gov/about.aspx
• http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Tobacco/cessation
• http://www.who.int/tobacco/mpower/tobacco_facts/en/
• http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/prevention/control-of-tobacco-use/Patient
• http://www.who.int/tobacco/research/youth/health_effects/en/index.html
• http://women.smokefree.gov/before-your-baby-is-born/6-reasons-why-quitting-matters-when-you-are-
pregnant.aspx
• http://www.euro.who.int/en/what-we-do/health-topics/disease-
prevention/tobacco/news/news/2013/06/turkey-a-model-of-success-in-tobacco-control