Did you know that around 20% of all deaths related to opioid abuse involve heroin? Heroin is a very dangerous drug for a variety of reasons. If you know someone who is addicted to heroin or if you are addicted to heroin yourself, it is important to get treated as soon as possible before the health effects get worse.
But what are the effects of heroin exactly? How does this drug affect the body as well as the brain? What makes it so dangerous?
Keep reading and learn more about the health effects of heroin and what heroin is below.
What You Need To Know About Heroin
The first thing you should know about this drug is that it is made from morphine. Morphine is a very important drug used in medical settings used for pain relief. It is usually only used for those who are experiencing very severe pain such as pain related to cancer or AIDS.
However, it may also be used to help people recover from invasive surgeries. That way, they won’t have to suffer from severe pain as they try to recover. Morphine works so well because it is derived from opium which, in turn, is derived from the poppy plant.
The poppy plant is a flower that grows in very large quantities in the Middle East and parts of Asia. However, some of these plants are also cultivated in parts of South America and Mesoamerica. Whatever the case, opium has long been known for its addictive properties.
Heroin is a drug that is not used in the medical field at all. It is not only dangerous for its addictive potential but also due to how people formulate it. Often, people add very dangerous filler ingredients to the drug such as cat litter, battery acid, drain cleaning products, and so on.
The Details
As you can imagine, introducing these ingredients into your body in any way, even in small amounts, can cause serious damage to the body. Heroin can take many different forms. In some cases, it may come in the form of a powder that is white (or sometimes brown) in color.
In other cases, heroin may even be black and very sticky. Heroin addicts abuse this drug in many different ways. One of the most popular ways is to inject it due to the fact that this would produce an instant high in the user.
Other people may decide to swallow or snort the drug as well. In some cases, addicts may even dare to mix this drug with crack cocaine. This will produce an especially intense high but, as you can imagine, it is also extremely dangerous.
Many people die from a heroin overdose every year. Overdosing is often done by accident. A person may not realize that a certain dose of heroin may be enough to kill them or at least produce very serious health effects.
But what are the health effects of heroin both on the brain and body?
The Physical Effects of Heroin on the Body
The physical and visible effects of heroin on the body may not become prominent until the addict has already been using the drug for some time. Often, if a person has just started to use heroin, it may be difficult for people to know. But as the addition becomes more advanced, the visible signs will start to become more and more noticeable.
For the drug user, the most noticeable physical effect is the feeling of euphoria upon consuming the drug. Heroin is so addictive due to the euphoria it creates. Euphoria is a feeling of extreme pleasure.
It occurs due to the way the drug affects the brain and feeds into the brain’s pleasure centers. This is also one of the reasons why it is so difficult to stop using heroin. And, more than that, when a person stops using heroin, the person will usually go through very serious withdrawal symptoms.
This is due to the fact that prolonged heroin use will keep the brain producing its own chemicals that are responsible for pleasure. When you stop taking the drug all of a sudden, the brain will be completely without these chemicals which will often result in severe depression and anxiety along with a feeling of illness.
Often, the euphoria from heroin is so powerful that it can completely ruin a person’s life even though the high only lasts for a short time. Due to the fact that the high is short-lived but very powerful, it will compel the drug user to seek out more heroin so that they continue experiencing the euphoria as much as they want.
What You Need to Know
The main problem that results from this is habituation. This is when a certain dose of heroin is no longer enough to satisfy the person’s needs and the euphoria is no longer as strong. This will compel the person to take larger and larger doses in order to experience a high that is strong enough.
This is where the danger of overdosing comes in. The body will slowly adapt to these higher and higher doses of heroin. However, these higher doses also become more likely to be fatal to the drug user.
Many cases of overdoses are accidental due to the fact that the person didn’t know or didn’t expect the large dose to kill them. Besides the obvious danger of overdosing on heroin, there are more minor symptoms of addiction you should be aware of.
For example, a person who is addicted to heroin may often have a dry mouth, warm or red skin, experience insomnia, collapsed veins, and so on. Some of the most serious dangers involve damage to the person’s internal organs. Often, the liver will be affected to some extent.
This is because the liver is what filters and processes drugs in the body. Of course, overloading the liver with heroin will start to damage the cells in this organ. In some cases, the liver may even fail due to prolonged heroin use.
This is not to mention that other organs such as the kidneys and heart can also experience problems due to heroin use. But how does this drug affect the brain and mental function of a person?
The Mental Effects of Heroin
The mental effects of this drug can be just as bad as the physical effects. The mental effects tend to get worse as the person continues to use heroin for a prolonged period of time. In the long term, heroin use can actually change the structure of the brain as well as how the brain works.
As mentioned before, using heroin causes the brain to stop producing chemicals that are usually responsible for creating and modulating the pleasure response. For that reason, the brain becomes reliant on the presence of heroin in the body to function. If you take the drug away, then the body will go through severe withdrawal symptoms.
This is due to the fact that the brain has to relearn how to produce those chemicals responsible for regulating the pleasure response. Usually, the reaction to this is severe depression and anxiety. Sometimes, the depression may be so severe that the person may try to commit suicide.
This is why it is important to seek professional heroin treatment. That way, as the addict recovers, they will have plenty of support from trained professionals who know how to deal with these withdrawal effects. Besides these effects, there are also more mild mental effects you should be aware of.
Other Effects
For example, heroin may change the way a person thinks or behaves. In particular, heroin will produce a near-constant craving for more heroin in the drug user. This will compel the person to exhibit drug-seeking behavior.
This may result in the person stealing money from people they know so that they can buy more drugs. They may also start to experience mood swings, especially those involving anger. The person may become very angry for seemingly no reason or they may become angry over minor inconveniences.
Whatever the case, these symptoms only get worse with time, which is why it is so important for a heroin user to seek treatment.
All About the Effects of Heroin
The effects of heroin can be very serious and they tend to only get worse with time. Often, if left untreated, heroin use will lead to a fatal overdose or it may cause fatal damage to internal organs such as the liver. For that reason, treatment is very important.
To learn more about drug treatment, contact us here.
53 comments
This write up would sure go a long way for those in this act. Heroine is super danger. To be fore-warned is to be fore-armed.
The heart breaking effects are overwhelming. Heroin is one of the hardest drugs in the world.
There is nothing in life without any effect or consequence. So many people have died because of heroin overdose. To be on a safer side, one should flee from anything called drugs.
Heroin consumption make people lose their sanity which eventually make people to avoid and run away from them. Thanks to detox to rehab for this great information.
Heroin is not good in the body for whatever reason. It affects body organs seriously. The best thing is to desist from it. Thanks.
Thank you so very much for finding out tine to educate us detox, this really came in handy. Thanks.
It district the mind and thinking ability of men. It makes it users to be useless to themselves.
This is i say an inanimate object no matter what it is its not dangerous the person that uses it. Morphine has medical benefits heroine too but it is abused and that is the problem. Anyway thanks for sharing,
The physical effect iis the feeling of euphoria upon consuming the drug. Heroin is so addictive due to the euphoria it creates. So people needs to avoid it
People needs to stop taking heroin has it affects the body dangerously. It does affect the brain and can even kill the body.
The feeling of euphoria is what really makes many people especially beginners to continue abusing heroin and other drugs. Then comes habituation, where the addict keep on adding the quantity of the drug to get the same desired effect. Great article.
Heroin can cause major damage on the Brain and mind of the victim. More reasons it is better to stay away from it.
More reasons it is better to stay away from it. It can change the person’s behavior and thinking.
This article on heroin is well detailed, informative and Educational. Everything you need to know on the effect and reason why it should not be a way to escape whatever challenges we are facing.
The fact that heroine causes a constant craving for more heroine is a turn off for me.
My 15 year old nephew is addicted to heroine and I have been searching for information online in order to advise him. This article is really what I need. I will surely share this article with him. I’m pretty know that if people know the effects of heroine, they wouldn’t even go near it. Thanks for taking your time to write this article. You just saved a life. The post is apt and on point
Okay so poppy is also used to make Herion, now that is new information to me. The temperament issue, I think is my greatest concern as a person who is angry as a result of the drug I think can cause a serious damage as they have little or no reasoning to control themselves.
I never knew heroin is made from Morphine.
It is better to stay away from it than get addicted!
I believe we should be deliberate about being responsible on the abuse of drugs… Let’s be responsible.
Thank you for knowledge me how drug can affect brain and body,
Thank you Detax to rehab for sharing these type of stories with all of us.These stories are really very much inspirational for many people.
Taking anything, everything in excess, is always bad, especially more so if it’s dangerous drugs like heroin. People should really know and be aware of the threat it has to their bodies, and seek professional help immediately if they feel, or if they have loved ones they think are already deep in heroin abuse,
He lasting negative effects of heroine in the body cannot but be overemphasized. The only solution is to desist from taking heroine.
Almost all kinds of bad addictive substances have some sort of ill effects on your body and mind. However, substance-based addictions are not the only kind of addictions that ruin your health. Behavioural addictions could also destroy your well-being as well.
I actually tried heroin once. Never liked it. Maybe the side effect after the “high” moment fades is what i hate most. Anyway, I hope people will be more educated with these kinds of drugs.
I have read the ingredients making heroin and I can’t imagine taking it. The effects on the body is worse than can imagine.
Thanks for this very enlightening. The high or euphoria experienced with the usage of Heroin is nothing compared to the dangerous effects that comes with the usage. It should be totally avoided.
The withdrawal symptoms of heroine are the worst. I saw it happen to a friend and it was painful to watch.
Severe depression has to be the most harrowing part when withdrawing from heroine. It could even lead to suicide.
The effects of heroine on the mind are more adverse than its effects on the body. Thanks for sharing the article.
Habituation, as discussed in the article, is the most dangerous part of heroine abuse. It’s like you need more of the drug every time you use it to get high.
Indeed, treatment is vital for anyone with a heroine addiction. It’s why I’d recommend the 12 step program.
People suffering heroine addiction need a lot of love and understanding. Addiction can happen to anyone.
Heroin has and continues to ruin numerous lives. Thanks for spreading awareness on how harmful the drug is.
I am surprised that there are people who actually mix heroin with crack cocaine. That sounds super dangerous.
You are doing God’s work by helping the world understand just how harmful hard drugs are. Keep up the good work and I look forward to even more articles.
I have had a few people I know overdose on heroin. It was so heartbreaking indeed.
My hope is that someone planning to use heroin reads this write up and thinks twice. That is the best possible outcome.
People needs to stop taking heroin has it affects the body dangerously. More reasons it is better to stay away from it. Thanks for sharing this blog.
The euphoric high is what drives many users, especially newcomers, to keep misusing heroin and other substances. The next stage is habituation, when the addict keeps increasing the dose of the substance to get the same result. fantastic article
Heroin abuse has many detrimental effects on physical, mental and psychological wellness of individuals. It is advisable to avoid it .
Truly the heartbreaking effects of heroin have been discussed in this article. However, people should desist from heroin addiction.
I always knew heroin was one of the most lethal drugs, but I never knew how intense the euphoria was. These are vital stats and symptoms to be on special alert for, when someone’s using. Being well educated could very well save someone’s life and relaying this information as soon as possible.
The consequences of substance abuse cannot be overemphasized. Everyone must try as much as possible to not get addicted.
It’s today that I’m learning about the fact that heroin comes from morphine! A very interesting fact.
20% of death due to heroin is a lot! Oh my! This topic should really be talked about so that many should become aware of its effect on people. Thank you for sharing this article, it got so much information that a person should know about.
Heroin has posed great threat to people that use it because of the active ingredient in it which is morphine. The addictive nature of it has really made it dangerous and the aftermath effect isn’t palatable.
Having a brain that can’t function properly without heroin is a death sentence. Anyone suffering from heroin addiction should seek recovery before it’s too late.
Having lost a friend to heroin overdose, I can’t stress how helpful this article is. I just wish more addicts would get a chance to read it.
I am blown away to read that heroin was initially used for medical purposes. How far away the society has fallen!
Another devastating effect of heroin on its user is the financial hit. I have seen many a rich men go broke simply because they used all their money funding their addiction.
I am happy to finally get to read an in-depth rundown of how heroin affects us both mentally and physically. This has simply left me terrified of the drug to say the least
The good news is that there is actually a treatment for heroin addiction that has been tried and tested to good results. The 12 step program is a great place to start. Thanks for the article.
Heroin, is one of the drugs very popular to people. This kind of drugs takes out the sanity of the user. Temporary relief from pain may be one of the reason why people keep on using it. It is clearly bat for anybody’s health. Kindly refrain from using drugs such as heroin.