I've heard many people talking about how amphetamines can be neurotoxic both short term and long term. But whenever I ask them, what excactly that means, I can't get an answer. I've been trying to find some information on the internet about it, but I can't figure out, what the neurotoxic effects specifically affect people. I think especially people education young people on drugs should think more about this, cause I think for many young people, "neurotoxic" pretty much has no meaning. I mean the notorious cone snail venoms are neurotoxic as well, but stepping on one of them (depending on species) can be deadly. That's quite far from what people experience on a simple line on street amphetamine, so it has got to confuse some people who think the way I do.
Can anyone give me some examples, so I can better understand it?
Let me try to explain this to you in a way that satisfies your request and gives you somewhat of a background... I'm in med school and love to teach.
Neurotoxic can be rephrased as "a substance having a toxic effect on neurons." Notice there's nothing about time/intensity/permanence mentioned. It's just not good for your neurons somehow.
The most important thing to remember when reading forum posts is that nobody knows how a drug affects you, regardless of what they may claim. Keeping that in mind, amphetamines can be neurotoxic in a number of ways.
(Short, medium, and long term effects are not set in stone... more of a continuum)
Short term neurotoxicity from amphetamines results from flooding your brain with dopamine and to a lesser extent, serotonin. Dopamine tells your body to go on 'high alert' by telling two fatty lumps above your kidneys to secrete adrenaline, a chemical you probably are familiar with if you've ever jumped out of a plane or had a close call with danger. Whenever your brain is that stimulated for an extended period of time, all the wastes it generates need to be flushed from your central nervous system via chemical reactions occurring during sleep. Most people stay awake for days on end, never allowing the body to restore the dopamine and serotonin levels to normal. Their neurons begin to function abnormally and they may see things, feel anxious, etc... At this point, he or she is experiencing
acute neurotoxic effects of amphetamine consumption.
I think you have originally been asking the difference between acute and long-term effects... again, I'm gonna try to help you understand the underlying idea instead of beating you over the head with words. Nobody benefits from that shit, imo.
Here's a diagram of a normal neuron with explanation below
O---->
O = cell body of neuron
--- = part of neuron that carries information
> = part of neuron that gives/receives information
O------>
X Short term damage
O--
X--->
Repairable damage to neuron, loss of function until complete
X-- -
Irreparable damage to neuron, no return of function/cell death
The truth is, we don't know what the long long term effects of amphetamine administration at
clinical levels will be, because we have just recently begun to understand the brain. While some may disagree, recreational amphetamine use has been shown to cause all three categories of damage (
remember, brain chemistry doesn't fit into neat little categories). The more you abuse the drug, the higher the likelihood you will experience these effects. Different types of cells in your body can be damaged by amphetamines besides neurons, but that's another post.
Hope this answers the question to your liking and gives you some insight into the terminology. Holler back if you need more specific answers on other effects/dangers.