Which is addicting, cocaine or dopamine?

Question

doesn't the cocaine get its effect from dopamine?

Answer 1

Absolutely 100% the dopamine, if you are meaning the natural kind.

Cocaine releases dopamine (a natural neurotransmitter of pleasure) in highly excessive amounts that just drives the receiving neurons crazy. This is called a 'high'.

These receiving neurons have little receptors on their skin that receive the dopamine rush, and over time, with more rushes, they let most of those receptors die off so that the neuron isn't fried every time cocaine hits the system.

When a person is not taking cocaine, even when dopamine levels are at naturally occurring high levels, not enough dopamine is being absorbed because those receptors were killed off to protect the neuron.

The lack of dopamine being absorbed by receiving neurons is what causes the urge for a hit of cocaine.

The progressive loss of receptors is also the reason it takes more and more cocaine to achieve a 'high'.

The idea that both are needed for an addiction is false as well, you just need something. A perosn addicted to cocaine can easily stop using it if they start some other drug that causes a dopamine release. This is called 'addiction exchange'.

Answer 2

Cocaine

Answer 3

It isn't an either/or situation. They work together.

Cocaine is a dopamine transporter blocker that competitively inhibits dopamine uptake to increase the lifetime of dopamine and results in an overabundance of dopamine (an increase of up to 150%) in the brain. Like cocaine, amphetamines increase the concentration of dopamine in the synaptic gap, but by a different mechanism. Amphetamines are similar in structure to dopamine, and so can enter the terminal button of the presynaptic neuron via its dopamine transporters as well as by diffusing through the neural membrane directly.

Answer 4

Any chemical substance ending in "ine" is addictive.

Caffeine
Nicotine
Cocaine
Dopamine
Mescaline
Morphine
Methamphetamine
Codeine

Need I go on?

Both are addictive but ,Cocaine is an antagonist of dopamine, hence the high.

A new theory to combat drug addition seems to be making progress lately. Substituted synthetic drugs, which mimic the effects of hard core drugs but stimulate the mind and trick it into thinking it has covered the need for a fix. There have been several such drugs in the past, but the newest drugs using this battle tactic on the war on drugs are blazing a trail in innovative medicine. It could be another big win for the pharmaceutical industry as well. Sales of such drugs are predicted to skyrocket in the future as the war on drugs continues. One such drug, a new vaccine could treat problems with drug abuse, as clinical trials are almost complete in Europe. Cantab Pharmaceuticals has the product they call Xenova.

http://www.xenova.co.uk/

Originally this product was produced by ImmuLogic a start-up in Waltham, MA, which sold their rights to the drug. The FDA seems to have a little tougher time going for approval than our across the pond counter part agencies. In the United States the new technologies and sensors are helping authorities find more and more drug smugglers and the crack down on gangs is helping catch more dealers and users. As these folks are caught, rehabilitation for drug users will become of even greater concern as the rehab success rates are in the low 20 percentiles.

The concept behind Xenova is interesting and it takes the new theory of replacement synthetic drugs one step further. The vaccine is to overcome the fact that cocaine molecules are too small to be recognized by the immune system, so it couples a slightly modified form of the drug to a protein. The protein is called Cholera toxin-b sub unit. This is registered by the immune system as a foreign substance.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/370663.stm

and many top clinics and researchers are giving it the thumbs up, while some critics are quite alarmed at its possible widespread use in the near future and some in the scientific community are skeptical, but others think this solution makes quite a bit of sense;

http://www.yale.edu/opa/v28.n24/story1.html .

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2000/03/000309075053.htm .

It is thought that the same drug may work on any “ine” drugs as well such as; Caffeine, nicotine and morphine addictions. If not such a methodology appears to have no scientific end to it and perhaps we could rid all humans of drug abuse problems. The future looks bright for such pharmaceuticals in the future, we shall see how well this works.

Answer 5

cocaine is an opioid derivative which causes increase in dopamine release which is a neurotransmitter that causes increase in mental and physical activity -temporary of course- cocaine is addictive cause its repeated use lead to adaptation of the body receptors which need larger and larger doses and etc...

Answer 6

Cocaine ofcourse.

Cocaine is by far the more severe of the two in terms of addiction. [see link below]

Answer 7

The word is "addictive"

And the answer is cocaine, because you can not become addicted to a substance your body creates.

Answer 8

Hi oversea's, They both are addicting.

Clowmy

Answer 9

Both.

Answer 10

both can be. anything can be addictive if not used in moderation.