Pathophysiology of Substance Abuse: A Review

PATHOPHYSIOLOGY OF SUBSTANCE ABUSE A REVIEW. *Abdullahi Samaila 1 and Bashir Abdulkadir 2 1Department of Pharmacology, College of Medical Sciences, Umaru Musa Yaradua University, Katsina, Nigeria.2 Department of Microbiology, Umaru Musa Yaradua University, Katsina, Nigeria. *Corresponding author Email abuuismaeel@gmail. com, mobile 08031817444. Substance abuse is one of the types of substance use disorders. According to American Psychiatric Association (APA), substance abuse can be defined as faulty adaptation of using substances as evidenced by recurrent and adverse effects associated with frequent use of the substance. Opioid analgesics and heroin are the most commonly abused drugs. Opioids abuse is more common in men compared to women. The substances of abuse can be categorised as depressants or stimulants of the central nervous system. These substances interfere with the release and reuptake of the neurotransmitters as well as their accessibility to the receptor binding sites. They also affect the reward pathway by stimulating neurons to release neurotransmitters leading to subjective feeling of wellbeing. Substance abusers are prone to many problems like addiction, tolerance, dependence, accidents, behavioural and health related problems, suicidal attempt, morbidity and mortality. Quite number of reference literature were accessible using various search engines and internet for this research. Out of which 21 were selected based on their relevance to the tittle and contents of the research. The 21 articles and related information were reviewed critically, to assess the aetiological risk factors, pathophysiology, consequences and possible pharmaco-therapeutic options of substance abuse disorder, excluding alcohol and tobacco. Diagnosis is mainly clinical. Some of the treatment options are methadone, buprenorphine and naloxone. However, prevention is better than cure. Young adults are discouraged from taking any substance or drugs not specifically prescribed by a doctor or qualified health personnel. Key words, Substance, abuse, neurotransmitter, opioids, withdrawal symptoms