Synthetic psychostimulant drugs that speed up the workings of the brain and body.
Speed, base and ice or crystal methamphetamine (crystal meth) are common amphetamines.
Long-term misuse of amphetamines can lead to brain damage, malnutrition and psychosis.
Long-term amphetamine decreases abnormalities in brain structure and function found in subjects with ADHD, and improves function in several parts of the brain, such as the right caudate nucleus.
MRI brain studies suggest that long-term treatment with amphetamines decreases abnormalities in brain structure and function with ADHD.
Amphetamines improve function in several parts of the brain, such as the right caudate nucleus of the basal ganglia.
Legal agents, like dexamphetamine and methylphenidate, are prescribed for particular disorders such as narcolepsy or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Randomized controlled trials in children with ADHD that found an average increase of 4.5 IQ points and improvements in attention, disruptive behaviors, and hyperactivity.
Amphetamine treatment for ADHD in children associated with an average increase of 4.5 IQ points, increases in attention, and continued decreases in disruptive behaviors and hyperactivity.
Lifetime stimulant therapy starting during childhood controls ADHD symptoms and reduces the risk of developing a substance use disorder as an adult.
The effects of amphetamine on the gastrointestinal tract are unpredictable.
If intestinal activity is high, amphetamine may reduce gastrointestinal motility, however, amphetamine may increase motility when the smooth muscle of the tract is relaxed.
Speed, is the most common amphetamine and usually comes in the form of a powder.
Base – is an oily, sticky or waxy paste.
Ice (crystal methamphetamine) – is a crystal or crystalline powder, and is a stronger form of methamphetamineIt: it is also known as ‘crystal meth’, ‘shabu’ or ‘glass’.
Common slang terms for amphetamines include ‘speed’, ‘goey’, ‘crank’ and ‘whiz’.
They can be injected, snorted, smoked or swallowed.
Amphetamines release of adrenalin and other stress hormones, increase heart rate and blood pressure, directs blood flow into the muscles and away from the gut, improves fatigue,
Following high of amphetamines, crashes may be associated with nausea, irritability depression and exhaustion.
Effects of amphetamines include: increased energy, talkativeness, restlessness, excited state, tachycardia, tachypnea, hypertension, thirst, sweating, pupil dilatation, jaw clenching and anorexia.dry mouth and jaw clenching.
At normal therapeutic doses, the most common side effects include increased alertness, apprehension, concentration, initiative, self-confidence and sociability, mood swings, insomnia or wakefulness, and decreased sense of fatigue.
Less common side effects include anxiety, change in libido, grandiosity, irritability, repetitive or obsessive behaviors, and restlessness: these effects depend on the user’s personality and current mental state.
Amphetamine psychosis can occur in heavy users.
Amphetamine produce modest yet unambiguous improvements in cognition, including working memory, long-term episodic memory, inhibitory control, and some aspects of attention, in normal healthy adults.
At therapeutic doses, amphetamines do not impede athletic performance.
At much higher doses, amphetamine can induce effects that severely impair performance, such as rapid muscle breakdown and elevated body temperature.
Amphetamine produce modest yet unambiguous improvements in cognition, including working memory, long-term episodic memory, inhibitory control, and some aspects of attention, in normal healthy adults.
In healthy people at oral therapeutic doses, amphetamine has been shown to increase muscle strength, acceleration, athletic performance in anaerobic conditions, and endurance, delays onset of fatigue. while improving reaction time.
Cognition-enhancing effects of amphetamine are known to be partially mediated through the indirect activation of both dopamine receptor D1 and adrenoceptor α2 in the prefrontal cortex.
Amphetamine can improve performance on difficult and boring tasks..
Self-reported illicit stimulant use, is reported in 5–35% of college students.
High amphetamine doses can interfere with memory and other aspects of cognitive control.
Cognition-enhancing effects of amphetamine are known to be partially mediated through the indirect activation of both dopamine receptor D1 and adrenoceptor α2 in the prefrontal cortex.
In high doses patients feel extremely nervous, agitated, anxious, confused, irritable, hostile, aggressive and violent.
Amphetamine stimulates the medullary respiratory centers, producing faster and deeper breaths.
In a normal person at therapeutic doses, this effect is usually not noticeable, but when respiration is already compromised, it may be evident.
Amphetamine also induces contraction in the urinary bladder sphincter, the muscle which controls urination, which can result in difficulty urinating.
It can be useful in treating bed wetting and loss of bladder control.
Exposed individuals may experience physical symptoms including heart palpitations, headaches, dizziness, tremors, tachycardia, hypertension, blurred vision, bruxism, word-finding difficulties and loss of coordination.
Overdose complications include: collapse, seizure, heart failure, stroke or death.
Fatal amphetamine overdosing usually also involves convulsions and coma.
An amphetamine overdose can lead to many different symptoms, but is rarely fatal with appropriate care.
The severity of amphetamine overdose symptoms increases with dosage and decreases with drug tolerance to amphetamine.
In large doses of amphetamine may indirectly cause dopaminergic neurotoxicity as a result of hyperpyrexia, the excessive formation of reactive oxygen species, and increased autoxidation of dopamine.
An amphetamine overdose can result in a stimulant psychosis with delusions and paranoia.
About 5–15% of amphetamine induced psychosis patients fail to recover completely.
At least one trial that shows antipsychotic medications effectively resolve the symptoms of acute amphetamine psychosis.
Psychosis rarely arises from therapeutic use of amphetamines.
Drug tolerant individuals have been known to take as much as 5 grams of amphetamine in a day, which is roughly 100 times the maximum daily therapeutic dose.
Use impairs judgement.
Impairs appetite.
Metamphetamines can be detected in the blood for around four to eight hours after use and in the urine for around three to four days after use.
Amphetamine users may build up a tolerance and need to take larger doses to achieve the same effects.
Dependence may occur, with physiological craving and psychological dependence.
High amphetamine doses that are above the therapeutic range can interfere with working memory and other aspects of cognitive control.
In healthy people amphetamines has been shown to increase muscle strength, acceleration, athletic performance in anaerobic conditions, and endurance, while improving reaction time.
Amphetamine improves endurance and reaction time primarily through reuptake inhibition and release of dopamine in the central nervous system.
Amphetamine and other dopaminergic drugs also increase power output at fixed levels of perceived exertion by overriding a safety switch, thus allowing the core temperature limit to increase in order to access a reserve capacity that is normally off-limits.
At therapeutic doses, the adverse effects of amphetamine do not impede athletic performance.
At much higher doses, amphetamines can induce effects that severely impair performance, such as rapid muscle breakdown and elevated body temperature.
The review indicated that the severity of withdrawal symptoms is positively correlated with the age of the individual and the extent of their dependence.[115] Mild withdrawal symptoms from the discontinuation of amphetamine treatment at therapeutic doses can be avoided by tapering the dose.
Continued use for a number of days may result in sleeplessness followed by prolonged sleep.
Amphetamine use may result in damaging of brain cells, hallucinations, impairs concentration ability, paranoia, dangerous behavior, schizophrenic like activities, malnutrition, mood swings, violent rages, aggressive behavior, and depression.
Increased requirement for sedatives and other drugs to balance effects of amphetamines.
Impairs social relationships, work performance, and financial stability.
Increases risk of arrest, violence and involvement with crime.
Amphetamine produce modest yet unambiguous improvements in cognition, including working memory, long-term episodic memory, inhibitory control, and some aspects of attention, in normal healthy adults.
Amphetamines,and other dopaminergic drugs increase power output of exertion,by allowing the core temperature limit to increase in order to access a reserve capacity that is normally off-limits.
Amphetamines improves endurance and reaction time primarily through reuptake inhibition and release of dopamine in the central nervous system.
Cognition-enhancing effects of amphetamine are known to be partially mediated through the indirect activation of both dopamine receptor D1 and adrenoceptor α2 in the prefrontal cortex.
Amphetamine can improve performance on difficult and boring tasks..
Self-reported illicit stimulant use, is reported in 5–35% of college students.
High amphetamine doses can interfere with memory and other aspects of cognitive control.
Amphetamine also has a slight analgesic effect and can enhance the pain relieving effects of opioids.
Individuals acquire a preference for spending time in places where they have previously used amphetamine.
For children, young adults, and adults there is no association between serious adverse cardiovascular events (sudden death, heart attack, and stroke) and the medical use of amphetamine or other ADHD stimulants
Amphetamines are contraindicated in people with a history of drug abuse, cardiovascular disease, severe agitation, or severe anxiety. in individuals with advanced arteriosclerosis, glaucoma, hyperthyroidism and moderate to severe hypertension.
Should not be taken with monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs).
Patients with anorexia nervosa, bipolar disorder, depression, hypertension, liver or kidney problems, mania, psychosis, Raynaud’s phenomenon, seizures, thyroid problems, tics, or Tourette syndrome should be monitored for symptoms while taking amphetamine.
Drug tolerance develops rapidly in amphetamine abuse, so periods of extended abuse require increasingly larger doses of the drug in order to achieve the same effect.
When chronic heavy users abruptly discontinue amphetamine use, many report a time-limited withdrawal syndrome that occurs within 24 hours of their last dose.
Withdrawal symptoms in chronic, high-dose users are frequent, occurring in roughly 88% of cases, and persist for 3–4 weeks with a marked crash phase occurring during the first week.
Pathological overactivation of the mesolimbic pathway, a dopamine pathway that connects the ventral tegmental area to the nucleus accumbens, plays a central role in amphetamine addiction.
Individuals who frequently self-administer high doses of amphetamine have a high risk of developing an amphetamine addiction, since chronic use at high doses gradually increase the level of accumbal ΔFosB, a molecular switch and master control protein for addiction.
Regularly engaging in sustained aerobic exercise appears to reduce the risk of developing such an addiction to amphetamines.
Evidence from human studies indicates that therapeutic amphetamine use does not cause developmental abnormalities in the fetus or newborns.
Amphetamine abuse poses risks to the fetus.
Amphetamine passes into breast milk, so mothers should avoid breastfeeding when using it.