Explain how the lifestyle factors of drug use affect health

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

A drug is any substance other than food and water that, when taken into the body,

alters its functioning in some ways. Drugs are used for either therapeutic or

recreational purposes. Alcohol and tobacco are example of drugs that are primarily

used for recreational purposes. Alcohol—the use of alcohol is considered an accepted

part of the dominant culture in the United States. Chronic heavy drinking or alcoholism

can cause permanent damage to the brain or other parts of the body. For alcoholics, the

long-term negative health effects include nutritional deficiencies resulting from poor

eating habits? cardiovascular problems such as inflammation and enlargement of the

heart muscle, high blood pressure, and stroke? and eventually alcoholic cirrhosis—a

progressive development of scar tissue that chokes off blood vessels in the liver and

destroys liver cells by interfering with their use of oxygen. Nicotine (tobacco)—the

nicotine in tobacco is a toxic, dependency-producing psychoactive drug that is more

addictive than heroin. It is classified as a stimulant because it stimulates central

nervous system receptors and activates them to release adrenaline, which raises blood

pressure, speeds up the heartbeat, and gives the user a temporary sense of alertness.

Tobacco is still responsible for about one in every five deaths in the United States.

Even people who never light up a cigarette are harmed by environmental tobacco

smoke—the smoke in the air inhaled by nonsmokers as a result of other people's

tobacco smoking. Illegal drugs—marijuana is the most extensively used illegal drug in

the United States. High doses of marijuana smoked during pregnancy can disrupt the

development of a fetus and result in congenital abnormalities and neurological

disturbances. Another widely used illegal drug is cocaine. People who use cocaine over

extended periods of time have higher rates of infection, heart problems, internal

bleeding, hypertension, stroke, and other neurological and cardiovascular disorders than

do nonusers. Intravenous cocaine users who share contaminated needles are also at

risk for contracting AIDS.