Author: Alex Thompson

Four Categories of Drugs and their Effects

Resistance can occur naturally over time as minor mutations suddenly become major mutations or when you don’t take a drug as prescribed, allowing a germ to mutate freely. When resistance develops, a drug may be far less effective or not work at all. Medications used to treat chronic infections have the potential for drug resistance. This occurs when a virus or bacteria mutates and is able to escape the effects of an antiviral or antibiotic drug. This same enzyme is also responsible for the production of a blood-clotting chemical called thromboxane A2. By suppressing COX, blood clots less effectively, leading to possible side effects like easy bruising, nosebleeds, and stomach ulcers.

  1. Opioids can cause euphoria and are often used nonmedically, leading to overdose deaths.
  2. We offer a number of free resources to help facilitate discussion, including our comprehensiveDrug Index A-Z.
  3. An embolus travels in the bloodstream and may become lodged in an artery, blocking (occluding) blood flow.

Multiple Categories of Classification

This is not intended as a comprehensive list, given that the number of drugs that have been developed is vast and research into them is ongoing. Additional information, however, can be found in separate articles on the different classes of drugs and on certain individual drugs themselves. Drugs used in medicine generally are divided into classes or groups on the basis of their uses, their chemical structures, or their mechanisms of action. These different classification systems can be confusing, since each drug may be included in multiple classes. The distinctions, however, are useful particularly for physicians and researchers. Likewise, knowledge of a drug’s chemical structure facilitates the search for new and potentially more effective and safer medicines.

Purpose of Drug Classification

People sometimes use these as recreational drugs, as they can give a person a “rush” of euphoria and increase energy and alertness. These substances can affect awareness, thoughts, mood, and behavior. Medications that increase alertness, attention, energy, blood pressure, heart rate, and breathing rate. For more information, see the Misuse of Prescription Drugs Research Report. Inhalants include solvents and aerosols, and are found in common household items like spray paints, markers, glues, cleansers, and nitrate prescriptions.

Hallucinogens

Opioids block pain by sealing off the receptors that trigger the sensation. The term “drug” encompasses an incredible amount of substances, including medications such as ibuprofen that don’t see abuse. Addictive drugs commonly abused tend to alter the way our mind handles sensations and stimuli. This requires changes to our central nervous system, the severity of which is determined by the chemical makeup of the drug in question. Like nicotine and alcohol, an individual can build up a tolerance to caffeine, which means they need to consume more to feel its effects. This can lead to dependency and withdrawal symptoms when a person stops taking it.

One Drug, Different Physiological Effects

Heroin is an illegal drug that binds to opioid receptors in the brain, causing a “rush” of pleasurable sensations. While not all psychoactive substances are illegal, a person can misuse any of these substances. These changes can be helpful or desirable, but psychoactive drugs can also yield unwanted effects. Nicotine, alcohol, and caffeine are all types of psychoactive substances that people frequently consume.

However, it can also reduce a person’s ability to think rationally and lead to impaired judgment. Over time, an individual can develop a tolerance to or dependency on alcohol. A psychoactive substance is any substance that interacts with the central nervous system. When a person uses them, it causes changes in how the brain responds to stimuli. Opioids can cause euphoria and are often used nonmedically, leading to overdose deaths.

But they also deplete stomach acids that are needed to break down a class of HIV drugs called protease inhibitors so that they can be better absorbed in the intestines and enter the bloodstream. One drug can be classified in several different ways based on its mechanism of action, physiological effects, and chemical structure. Mostly made up of everyday household items, these drugscausebrief feelings of euphoria. As the name suggests,inhalantsare always inhaled as gases or fumes. The “highs” slightly differ between inhalants, but most people who abuse inhalants are willing to huff whatever substance they can get. One of the most devastating truths aboutdrug abuseis that it doesn’t just affect the person using it; it also affects their friends and families.

Depending on the situation, the effects of psychoactive drugs may be beneficial or harmful. A benzodiazepine chemically similar to prescription sedatives such as Valium® and Xanax® that may be misused for its psychotropic effects. Rohypnol has been used to commit sexual assaults because of its strong sedation effects.

Opium is one of the world’s oldest drugs and originates in the poppy plant. The term “opiate” signifies that a drug has derived from opium and does not include synthetic drugs such as methadone. All opiates are extremely addictive and result in various side effects in the body.