A majority of methamphetamine (Meth) abusers also abuse alcohol but the neurochemical consequences of this co-abuse are unknown. Individually, alcohol and Meth cause inflammation and long-term alterations in dopamine and serotonin signaling within the brain. Experiments were conducted to identify if serial exposure to alcohol and Meth has neurochemical consequences that are greater than after either drug alone.
One-way ANOVAs were used to analyze LPS and COX-2 data with ketoprofen injections. A three-way ANOVA and subsequent Tukey post hoc analyses were performed to analyze monoamine content after the introduction of ketoprofen during EtOH drinking. All analyses were performed using SigmaPlot 13.0 software (Systat Software, SigmaPlot for Windows). Sample sizes were chosen to result in a power of 0.80 or greater, and alpha-level in all experiments is 0.05 or less. Alcohol could potentially boost the effects of meth by heightening its euphoric effects.
Other Mental Health Disorders
Behavioral therapies can help people develop skills to avoid and overcome triggers, such as stress, that might lead to drinking. Medications also can help deter drinking during times when individuals may be at greater risk of a return to drinking (e.g., divorce, death of a family member). A health care provider how do you smoke moon rocks might ask the following questions to assess a person’s symptoms. Because of this risk, experts recommend giving opioid overdose reversal medications such as nalmefene or naloxone (sometimes sold as Narcan) to anyone experiencing slowed or stopped breathing, which may be signs of an opioid overdose. Research also suggests that drug checking approaches, such as fentanyl test strips, can help people understand what is in their drug supply before use. The best way to prevent an addiction to a drug is not to take the drug at all.
Other NIDA Sites
NIDA is a biomedical research organization and does not provide personalized medical advice, treatment, counseling, or legal consultation. Information provided by NIDA is not a substitute for professional medical care or legal consultation. Syringe-services programs, which provide clean injection equipment to people who inject drugs, are highly effective harm-reduction measures, greatly reducing the spread of infectious disease.
Cyclooxygenase inhibition by ketoprofen during EtOH drinking blocked the increases in LPS and COX-2 and the enhanced decreases in dopamine and serotonin produced by Meth. Therefore, prior EtOH drinking causes an increase in inflammatory mediators that mediate a synergistic interaction with Meth to cause an enhanced neurotoxicity. The finding that EtOH drinking alone increased COX-2 (Fig. 2c–d) is consistent with prior studies (Knapp and Crews 1999; Pascual et al. 2007) and suggests that prior EtOH exposure creates an inflammatory state that impacts the neurotoxic effects of Meth.
- Behavioral treatments—also known as alcohol counseling, or talk therapy, and provided by licensed therapists—are aimed at changing drinking behavior.
- One-way ANOVAs were used to analyze LPS and COX-2 data with ketoprofen injections.
- It may be done by family and friends in consultation with a health care provider or mental health professional such as a licensed alcohol and drug counselor, or directed by an intervention professional.
- Women typically reach this level after about four drinks and men after about five drinks in two hours.
- The FMCSA, CMV employers, State Driver Licensing Agencies, and law enforcement officials all have complete access to information in the Clearinghouse.
Alcohol Use
The vast majority of psychostimulant abusers regularly use multiple chemical substances. Methamphetamine (METH) and alcohol (ethanol) are a frequently observed combination for co-abuse, with individuals who ingest the two substances both concurrently and sequentially. Despite the understanding that polydrug use is a feature of illicit drug use disorders, research into mechanisms and treatments for drug combinations such as METH and alcohol is in its infancy. This chapter focuses on the prevalence of co-abuse, including use during pregnancy, and touches on what is currently known about the central nervous system interactions that could contribute to reinforcement and toxicity. Future work will be needed to establish optimal animal models and to identify novel targets for the treatment of METH-alcohol co-abuse. A combination of two medications, injectable naltrexone and oral bupropion, was safe and effective in treating adults with moderate or severe methamphetamine use disorder in a double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase III clinical trial.
Therefore, the efficacy of ketoprofen against the neurotoxicity is probably mediated by inhibition of COX-2. Ketoprofen also attenuated increases in LPS (Fig. 7a) and may have the additional benefit of blocking LPS-induced inflammation after EtOH and Meth. In addition, alterations in glutamate signaling are produced by alcohol (Crews et al. 2006) and Meth (Nash and Yamamoto 1992) and may interact with the inflammatory response to promote and enhance excitotoxicity. Overall, participants responded at a significantly higher rate in the treatment group.
