How do the different drugs affect the systems of the body?
Vocabulary:
Side effects- unwanted, dangerous physical and mental effects caused by a drug
Overdose- serious reaction to an excessive amount of a drug
Tolerance- as the body adjusts to a drug, more of the drug is needed to produce the same effect
Addiction- the craving for the drug leads to compulsive, uncontrollable behavior. The person’s brain needs the drug in order to function normally.
Withdrawal- a series of painful, sometimes life-threatening effects an addict will experience when the brain and body is deprived of the drug
Antagonistic interaction- each drug’s effect is cancelled out by the other, or the action is reduced (nicotine cancels out or lessens the effects of medication for high blood pressure)
Synergisitc interaction- drugs interact to produce effects greater than those that each drug would produce alone (alcohol intensifies the effects of sleeping pills/sedatives).