Buy essay on Drugs Used to Treat Chemical Dependency in Co – Occurring Disorders

In our research we’ll discuss the problem of chemical dependency and the common forms of pharmacotherapy used in treating it.
First of all it’s necessary to say that those drugs are street medications from heartfelt torments. At the same time they are the matters of torment in their absence. Treatment of drug addiction is a fight against chemical dependence.
And now it’s turn to explain the term of chemical dependence. Chemical dependence is not a lack of discipline, not a weak will, not an immorality, not an absence of love to relatives, not a result of some other disease. All vices listed above are the result and display of a primary disease, of a chemical dependence on matters, changing mood. Possibly, you are even unaware that chemical dependence is an illness. But this is really it, like, for example, diabetes or piggy-wiggy. Chemical dependence is a global disease of mind, soul, body. In other words, illness strikes a person on many levels. It is vitally important that you and your near both understand and accept this conception. Having done it you will probably come to understanding that a person, abusing alcohol and narcotic preparations (or consuming them in a wrong way), does it not intentionally, but because he is sick. Your agitation, disappointment and anger will become a little weaker, and you will manage to consider the situation more objectively and structurally.
A chemically dependent person lives away from reality and, if not delivered from it, finally, dies, and dies prematurely at that. Chemical dependence doesn’t choose its victims either on a sexual sign or on the sign of sexual orientation. With the development of dependence the loss of memory becomes more frequent and unforeseeable. As the chemically dependent people can not remember, what happened to them during blanking of consciousness under the action of drugs, they do not perceive a certain emotional reaction of people around them on their strange, anti-social behavior by which they are often distinguished in the period of these “blankings”. In different cases even the lapses of memory “fall out of memory”. Being under the action of drugs, chemically dependent people can not estimate correctly their state in this concrete moment. The result of such behavior is an increasing alienation of relatives and friends.
So, the question is: What to do? How to treat this chemical dependence? Let’s now examine the ways of treating this dependence and the drugs used for this treating.
It is known that in clinical presentation of all the variants of drug addictions the certain periods are traced: intoxication, sharp abstinence, period of post-abstinent disorders, and stage of forming of therapeutic remission. Thus, the treatment must be built taking in account of the period of disease.
The period of intoxication, if there are not signs of overdose, does not almost practically demand treatment. At an overdose disintoxicational, symptomatic and antidote therapy is conducted, but this problem in a greater degree refers to the field of toxicology.
The treatment of drug addiction begins with the cut short of sharp abstinent disorders. As substitutive therapy for the protracted term the opiate agonists are assigned with the prolonged action, such as Metadon.
Metadon is a synthetic medicinal preparation from the group of opioids.
There are three basic variants of application of metadon for the patients with different forms of chemical dependence:
 only for a detoxication;
 for a detoxication and protracted supporting treatment;
 like insulin for the patients by diabetes – for the term of life.
The application of metadon in most clinics goes mainly in two directions – for the cut short of heroin abstinence and for substitutive therapy within the framework of a special, so-called metadon program, supporting a remission.
Metadon unlike thebaic preparations operates during 24-48 hours depending on the accepted dose. With a medical purpose metadon is accepted one time per a day. For the patients with drug addiction 50 mgs of metadon approximately replace the action of 200 mgs of heroin. For the cut short of abstinent syndrome the primary dose of metadon makes 30-40 mgs in twenty-four hours and may increase to 50-80 mg in twenty-four hours. Usually these doses completely take off the sharp symptoms of abstinence for 5-8 days. Then the doses of metadon are reduced gradually, and on the 14-20th day the preparation is absolutely abolished. More than 30 years ago V. P. Dole and М. Е. Nyswander expressed the opinion, that metadon can not be appointed to the patient for more than 20 days, because it results in forming of dependence on metadon, i.e. in substituting of one dependence by another.
In a month of systematic reception of metadon the valid of one dose of the drug increases individually in 2-3 times in relation to primordial. Not only personal features of patients influence on the growth of tolerance, but also the duration of the heroin narcotization and the dose of heroin accepted before. The greater the experience of abuse of heroin, the day’s dose of heroin is, the day’s dose of metadon grows quicker. Metadon has a cross tolerance with opiates, that assists the quickness of the growth of doses of drug. Metadon, substituting for heroin, gives a comfort mental condition.
Clophelinum is an agonist of adrenergic receptors of the central nervous system CNS. It is well-known and used everywhere. Clophelinum renders the expressed sedative, and also an analgetic effect. An important feature of Clophelinum is also its ability to diminish (and to take off) the somatic vegetative displays of opiate and alcoholic abstinence. The sense of fear diminishes, the cardiovascular and other disorders gradually pass. These phenomena are supposed to be largely conditioned by the decline of the central adrenergic activity, coming at a blockade by Clophelinum of a2-adrenergic receptors. It successfully represses the disorders of the autonomous nervous system at a thebaic abstinent syndrome, not practically influencing on the abnormal psychology violations, somnipathies. A negative by-effect in this case is its influence on the hemodynamics. Usually Clophelinum is applied in combination with analgetics, somnolents, anxiolytics, analeptics, positively influencing exactly on abnormal psychology disorders within the framework of abstinence and possessing an analgetic effect and other atypical neuroleptics.
Antaxone is a medicinal preparation applied for the treatment of drug addiction, as a specific antagonist of opioid receptors. Antaxone removes the action of drugs of the opiate group entered from outside.
Antaxone is applied for the prophylaxis of relapses at opiate drug addiction with the purpose of maintenance of the state at the sick, at which opiates are not able to render a characteristic action.
Antaxone (there are 50 mgs in a dose) during 24 hours blocks pharmacological effects, caused by intravenous introduction of 25 mgs of heroin. At doubling of a dose of Antaxone this action lengthens to 48 hours. The efficiency of treatment by antaxone depends on the observance of the mode of treatment of drug addiction by the patient and his willingness to accept Antaxone every day.
The reception of opiate drugs on a background of treatment with Antaxone does not only cause euphoria but also results in development of abstinent syndrome. Unmedical application of the preparation can cause sharp abstinence, respiratory insufficiency and coma.
Antaxone is appointed by a doctor-expert in narcology only after the cut short of abstinent syndrome. The application of Antaxone begins in the specialized narcological clinics on purpose of the doctor-expert in narcology, the duration of reception of the preparation is determined by him. In future a patient must be under a medical supervision.
For the cut short of intensifying of the pathological appetence to the psycho-active substances antipsychotic and anticonvulsant agents are traditionally applied. Clinical tests of Olanzapine at mentally sick showed that it is more effective, than other medicines, and causes by-effects and complications more rarely, renders the positive affecting on both positive and negative psychotic symptomatology, depression, effective at aphronias, apathy. Practical absence of by-effects allows to appoint it for a long time, including ambulatory as supporting treatment.
The application of antidepressants is the most justified for treatment of highly emotional component of pathological appetence. These preparations give an expressed sedative and stabilizing effect of the autonomic nervous system just after introduction.
For preventing relapses for patients with thebaic drug addiction the specific antagonist of opiate receptors is used. This is Naltrexone. The antagonistic action of Naltrexone is protracted enough – more than 24 hours after reception of 50 mgs of the preparation. Its action is based on the ability to prevent the development of subjective pleasant experiencing (euphorias) while introduction of a drug. Except this, Naltrexone possesses the whole range of other advantages: absence of agonistic properties, it does not cause addiction, absence of the expressed by-actions and toxic displays even at its protracted application; easy, uninvasion way of introduction ( the preparation is accepted perorally); large duration of action, allowing to accept it one time per day. It is shown that the efficiency of Naltrexone is substantially increasing at its combination with psychotherapy and supporting pharmacotherapy.
So, in our research we have examined the phenomenon of chemical dependence and we have studied five drugs for treating it.
On the first stage of chemical dependence – intoxication, the medicine Metadon is used. This drug is less strong than heroin that’s why it weakens the heroin dependence. It is used for the cut short of heroin abstinence and for substitutive therapy.
On the next stage of the treatment of chemical dependence Clophelinum is used. It renders the expressed sedative, and also an analgetic effect. This drug diminishes the displays of fear and disorders of the autonomous nervous system at a thebaic syndrome.
Antaxone is appointed after the cut short of abstinent syndrome. This medicine prevents the relapses and maintains the state at which opiates are not able to render a characteristic action.
On the stage of forming of therapeutic remission such medicines as Olanzapine and Naltrexone are used. These medicines prevent the development of subjective pleasant experiencing (euphorias) while introduction of a drug. They do not cause any dependence, don’t have by-effects and may be accepted for a long term.
Thus, taking into account all above mentioned it is necessary to conclude that we have learned a lot of new information about drugs and their treatment. I want to mention that we have followed the effectiveness of each drug discussed above in treating chemical dependency. In my judgment it is necessary to know not only drugs, but also the ways of their treatment and implement them in the frames of separately chosen case.

References
Nyswander, M. (1956). The Drug Addict as a Patient. N. J. — London.
Nunes, E. V., Donovan, S. J., Brady, R., Quitkin, F.M. (1994, April – June). “Evaluation and Treatment of Mood and Anxiety Disorders in Opioid-dependent Patients”. J. Psychoactive Drugs, № 26 (2). p. 147-153.
Pomeranz, S.I. (1983). “Drug Addiction: an Update.” Seminars Roentgenol. Vol 18, №3. p. 173-178.