Cocaine Habit Research Articles

When single hair reveals cocaine habit of consumption: MALDI imaging vs. LC-MSMS

The hair has the unique capacity of “trapping” psychoactive substances within it. Thus, punctual or repeated drugs exposure can be revealed during hair analysis. Matrix assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) of single hair offers many advantages over conventional techniques such as liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MSMS): low amount of sample, simplified sample preparation and high spatial resolution of MALDI images (∼100 μm). We present a method to characterize and localize cocaine and its metabolites, the benzoylecgonine and cocaethylene in a single hair from two chronic abusers of drugs using MALDI-QIT-TOF (Quadrupole Ion Trap-Time of Flight) mass spectrometry coupled to imaging. Few hair of two regular cocaine and alcohol users, called patients A and B were decontaminated in successive water and dichloromethane baths, then oriented and cut longitudinally using a home-made cutting device. Uniform layers of α-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamic acid (CHCA) matrix were sprayed over the hair samples using an automatic and thermo-regulated sprayer (TM-Sprayer™, HTXImaging). Acquisitions in MS/MS mode were performed according to a raster adjusted at 80 μm using a MALDI-QIT-TOF instrument (Axima Resonance, Shimadzu). MS/MS images of two hair per patients were reconstituted using the BioMap® imaging software and then processed using the Quantinetix® software. The MALDI-MS/MS images highlight, over the last four months preceding the hair collection, a decrease in cocaine quantity for patient A, while an increase is observed for the patient B. Consumption profiles are compared with those obtained by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, considered as the gold standard and the results are well correlated with those of the reference method. A manual procedure of hair longitudinal section is introduced. The results obtained after MALDI analysis are exploited as images in MS/MS mode and demonstrates cocaine use in the four months prior to collection for both drug users. In addition, the consumption profiles are comparable with those obtained by LC-MS/MS, confirming that the MALDI imaging is a method which efficiently characterize and map cocaine and its metabolites in single hair.

Topical Anaesthesia: A Step Too Far!

In the past cocaine has been used as a dental anaesthetic however it is illegally used as a recreational drug. Cocaine users occasionally rub this substance onto their attached gingivae. Due to the effects of cocaine this can create unexpected periodontal problems in a susceptible host. We present the presentation and management of a case of ulcerative periodontitis in a patient with a topical cocaine habit.

An unusual presentation of oro-naso-palatal fistula

This case report is of a 29-year-old male who complained of nasal escape of food and fluids through his nose for 6 months. Further questioning revealed a previous cocaine habit which has now ceased. Examination revealed a septal perforation and CT scanning revealed a 16 mm wide sagittal bone defect involving most of the hard palate as well as absence of the inferior half of the nasal septum. A diagnosis of septal perforation leading to an oro-naso-palatal fistula was made. This rather unusual presentation and clinical findings are discussed within this article. CPD/Clinical Relevance: The effects of cocaine misuse on the oral mucosa are presented.

Smells Like Stars by D. Nandi Odhiambo

of history and the insignificance of the individual. In “Where I Am,” Andra Neiburga characterizes Latvians as “a people bound up and numbed by northern darkness .” Despite the inherent power of focal caricature, the people from whom we hear most often seem to feel or project that their lives are of little importance. They go about their daily tasks and are most often portrayed as provincial and old-fashioned, content with whatever small lives they live and small perspectives they gain. This is contrasted with the constant invasion of dramatic twists and instances of magical realism—a man escapes death via a flying sleigh, a woman fills a room with countless birds, a grandson speaks nonchalantly of his murderous plots. Being underwhelmed by the most overwhelming possible events, each character would no doubt say, “A short story is more than enough for you to hear about me! It wouldn’t be worth your time to hear any more than fifteen pages of my life, nor mine to tell it.” Yet despite this disillusionment with the significance of their stories, what all the authors seem to find equally significant is place. The Book of Riga contains stories linked not only to the city in its general, current existence but to specific buildings from the past and future of the city. Though the translations (handled by many hands) vary in quality, content, and style, they can all agree on one thing: “Riga was just Riga, nothing out of the ordinary.” And that is the highest compliment they can give. Linda Stack-Nelson University of Oklahoma D. Nandi Odhiambo Smells Like Stars Toronto. Book*hug. 2018. 240 pages. Part domestic drama, part investigative thriller, and all intersectionality, D. Nandi Odhiambo’s fourth novel foregrounds the tension of interracial and queer relationships against the backdrop of colonial legacy. The four characters in Smells Like Stars struggle to realize their dreams of love and success in Ogweyo’s Cove, a Pacific tourist haven. Told through the eyes of an omniscient narrator,theKenyan-bornnovelist’sstoryfollows a two-week countdown to the wedding Zoltán Böszörményi The Conscience of Trees: Selected Poems Trans. Paul Sohar Ragged Sky Press Veteran Hungarian poet and novelist Zoltán Böszörményi has graced the pages of WLT before—and for good reason. This volume perfectly encapsulates his sophisticated and lofty style of diction as well as his fluid ability to blend ideas, images, and feelings into a flowing river of artistry. The poems provide all the comfort and complexity of a nature walk, gently encouraging the reader to contemplation. James Bridle New Dark Age: Technology and the End of the Future Verso Technologist James Bridle takes aim at the twenty-first century’s obsession with computation as the solution to all problems, his central argument being that the data we collect has already outstripped our ability to draw meaningful conclusions from it. Touching on a wide variety of topics, including search algorithms , surveillance, climate change, and many more, Bridle makes a compelling case for pumping the brakes on technology to allow ethics to catch up. Nota Bene WORLDLIT.ORG 71 of Kerstin Ostheim, a journalist who investigates gruesome horse killings, and P. J. Banner, a photographer with a cocaine habit. After meeting on a dating app and seeing each other for six months, the middle -aged couple decide to get married. P. J. must learn to take responsibility and confront his denial and addiction in order to support Kerstin and Schuld, her transgender daughter from her first marriage, while Kerstin herself must navigate her family’s Nazi past and privileged position as a settler. Sprinkled with Swahili and German, and awash in poetic description of place, Odhiambo creates a sensual world where witch doctors offer proverbs with matterof -fact humor and mechanics find wisdom in Aristotle, only to be interrupted by tweets and text messages that join the flow of the narrative to bring the historical and the contemporary side by side. These juxtapositions form the warp and weft of the novel. Consider the relationship between Kerstin and P. J., which parallels that between Schuld and her boyfriend, Woloff, an Olympic medalist struggling with a knee...

Reconstruction of Nasal Septal Perforations in Cocaine-Addicted Patients with Facial Artery Mucosa-Based Perforator Flap

Sir: Septal perforation is one of the most frequent complications of snorting cocaine. A wide range of mucosal defects have been described, from a clinically asymptomatic state through pinpoint holes to the destruction of the dorsal support, or even the destruction of the maxilla. Various types of local flaps have been tested for reconstruction of the nasal septum.1 Because of the high risk of failure due to damage to adjacent tissue, the use of distant tissues or even distant free flaps is preferred.2 The problem with remote or free flaps is that their volume may be excessive and they may obstruct the passage of air. Other authors have described useful mucosal regional flaps, such as the facial artery musculomucosal,3 an axial flap centered over the facial artery, or the buccinator flap,4 based on the posterior buccal artery or the anterior segment of the facial artery. Anatomical studies performed by our group have identified direct perforators from the facial artery irrigating specific mucosal territories.5 On the basis of these findings, we have designed an island flap by selecting the areas with the best vascularization, that is, the anterior and middle facial artery perforasomes of the oral mucosa. To our knowledge, this is the first description in the literature of a mucosa-based perforator flap. Using Doppler sonography, we mark the path of the facial artery in the oral mucosa. We harvest the musculomucosal flap by extracting an area about 20 percent larger than the defect that we aim to cover. We attempt to ligate the facial artery in the gingival sulcus, taking care not to damage the perforators next to the buccinator and orbicularis muscles. We perform a retrograde dissection of the facial artery, taking extreme caution at the branching-off site of the superior labial artery bifurcation. The exit point of the superior labial artery will be 7.4 ± 9.98 mm laterally and 5.1 ± 7.6 mm above the oral commissure in a line parallel to the lower edge of the jaw, between the gonion and pogonion (95 percent tolerance limits).5 The area measures approximately 3 cm2. Once we reach the bifurcation of the superior labial artery, we ligate it and continue the dissection over the facial artery to the base of the nasal ala or to a point where we can easily insert our flap inside the nose (Fig. 1). On the septal orifice, we excise the borders of the defect until we find healthy tissue and attach our flap with strategically placed sutures (Fig. 2).Fig. 1: Raised perforator flap.Fig. 2: Flap inserted in the opening in the septum.At this point, if required, we modify the nasal tip by open rhinoplasty. Similarly, if cartilage grafts are required for the nasal dorsum or grafts or local plasty to release the nostrils, reconstruction is performed. These well-vascularized areas are optimal for reconstructing a septal defect, because they comprise mucosa, the flap is relatively thin, and their perfusion is well determined. This procedure guarantees an excellent result, provided that the patient gives up his or her cocaine habit. DISCLOSURE The authors have no financial interest to declare in relation to the content of this article. PATIENT CONSENT The patient provided written consent for the use of her images. Mauricio E. Coronel-Banda, M.D. Universitat Internacional de Catalunya Catalunya, Spain José Maria Serra-Mestre, M.D. Second University of Naples Naples, Italy José Maria Serra-Renom, M.D., Ph.D. Universitat Internacional de Catalunya Catalunya, Spain Wendy P. Larrea-Terán, M.D., M.Sc. Universidad Complutense de Madrid Madrid, Spain

L'art de l'automobile, chefs-d'œuvre de la collection Ralph Lauren

Collecting old cars, like a cocaine habit, seems to be one of nature’s ways of telling you you are making too much money. Think of Pink Floyd’s drummer Nick Mason and his private collection of Ferraris. Think of the American pharmaceutical heir Josiah K. Lilly III and his vintage automobiles displayed in an imitation Shaker barn-house at a heritage park on Cape Cod. Or remember Hans and Fritz Schlumpf, Alsatian textile magnates unable to resist another Bugatti. Indeed, the brothers’ passion helped lead their firm into bankruptcy and their collection––more than 500 vehicles, including 150 Bugattis––ended up as France’s national motorcar museum, the Cité de l’Automobile, opened at Mulhouse in 1982.

Hypocretin-1 receptors regulate the reinforcing and reward-enhancing effects of cocaine: pharmacological and behavioral genetics evidence

Considerable evidence suggests that transmission at hypocretin-1 (orexin-1) receptors (Hcrt-R1) plays an important role in the reinstatement of extinguished cocaine-seeking behaviors in rodents. However, far less is known about the role for hypocretin transmission in regulating ongoing cocaine-taking behavior. Here, we investigated the effects of the selective Hcrt-R1 antagonist SB-334867 on cocaine intake, as measured by intravenous (IV) cocaine self-administration in rats. The stimulatory effects of cocaine on brain reward systems contribute to the establishment and maintenance of cocaine-taking behaviors. Therefore, we also assessed the effects of SB-334867 on the reward-enhancing properties of cocaine, as measured by cocaine-induced lowering of intracranial self-stimulation (ICSS) thresholds. Finally, to definitively establish a role for Hcrt-R1 in regulating cocaine intake, we assessed IV cocaine self-administration in Hcrt-R1 knockout mice. We found that SB-334867 (1–4 mg/kg) dose-dependently decreased cocaine (0.5 mg/kg/infusion) self-administration in rats but did not alter responding for food rewards under the same schedule of reinforcement. This suggests that SB-334867 decreased cocaine reinforcement without negatively impacting operant performance. SB-334867 (1–4 mg/kg) also dose-dependently attenuated the stimulatory effects of cocaine (10 mg/kg) on brain reward systems, as measured by reversal of cocaine-induced lowering of ICSS thresholds in rats. Finally, we found that Hcrt-R1 knockout mice self-administered far less cocaine than wildtype mice across the entire dose-response function. These data demonstrate that Hcrt-R1 play an important role in regulating the reinforcing and reward-enhancing properties of cocaine and suggest that hypocretin transmission is likely essential for establishing and maintaining the cocaine habit in human addicts.

Confidentiality: To honor or to override?

Your 15-year-old retention patient completed treatment 2 years ago with an excellent result. You remember him well—the youngest of 4 siblings whom you treated. When he returns for an adjustment of his upper retainer, you are taken aback by the severe retrograde wear of his darkened dentition since you last saw him 1 year ago. You notice severe inflammation in his nasal region. Although he tells you that he has developed an “awesome case of hay fever,” you suspect that he is engaging in illicit drug use. You close the door to your operatory, and, your direct inquiry confirms his cocaine habit. He pleads with you not to tell his father, who is your neighbor. You are now faced with an ethical dilemma. Do you respect the patient’s wishes for confidentiality? If you do so, might you be considered negligent in averting potentially serious health consequences? Alternatively, do you inform his parents of his habit so that rehabilitation can begin as soon as possible? Confidentiality is essential in the establishment of trust in a doctor-patient relationship and is an integral component of the Hippocratic oath. The oath states that “whatsoever I see or hear in the course of my profession . . . I will never divulge, holding such things to be holy secrets.” There are indeed instances when confidentiality is morally and legally violated, as in a case of suspected child abuse or a physically incompetent pilot whose uncontrolled sleep apnea places his passengers at risk. But when should confidentiality be breached in a dental setting? Many ethicists believe that confidentiality can be overridden when there is sufficient evidence to indicate that the patient would be harmed by maintaining confidentiality. Confidentiality is viewed as a “prima facie” principle: “a duty that is morally binding unless it conflicts with a more pressing moral duty.” Confidentiality can be violated if it incurs risks to other people or to society. For example, if a violent,

Hug or Ugh?

When stepped into Fawn's examination room, she was bouncing on the edge of her chair, feet drumming against the scuffed tiles, more like an impatient schoolgirl than a woman in her late fifties. had been forewarned. had hurled insults at the EMTs when they first rolled her into the emergency department and informed the triage nurse of her well-known heroin and cocaine habit. Found nodding off outside the police station, she had woken up only after receiving Narcan, an opioid antagonist. Now, her sun-roughened face reflected an unsettling mosaic of emotions. extended my hand and introduced myself. Yes, doctor. popped upright, grabbed my hand, and without letting go--before could even say another word--asked me for a hug. hug? said. Yes, sir, she said, boldly locking my gaze with her bloodshot eyes. ranted on about living in shelters, and how, sure, she'd made mistakes in her life, but don't believe that EMT bullshit about her using heroin; maybe a little crack, but she's no addict, and she had nobody in the world to prove them wrong. Just a she begged. My emergency medicine training and over fifteen years of practice had primed my mind and body to respond swiftly to a wide variety of urgent situations. But now my muscles tensed with a new critical challenge. The weight of each second counted against me as took in her dirty nails, ill-fitting clothes, and dark jigsaw teeth; as inhaled her strange aroma of old sweat, recent cigarettes, and greasy food. registered the loneliness trembling in her face. opened my arms. We hugged. To be completely honest, she hugged me. pressed her head against my chest. My heavy white cotton coat felt flimsy and porous between us. OK, said, gently coaxing her away. But she wouldn't release me. Only with forceful encouragement did she return to her seat. What's going on? asked. Words exploded from her tiny mouth, a landmine of thoughts: bogus arrests, undeserved jail time, bad marriages, field hockey and soccer stardom back in high school, ungrateful children, hospitalizations for bipolar, no sleep for five days straight--no, six. disengaged from the scene as she spoke, watched myself listening to her. still felt the force of her body against mine. Later, informed the senior emergency medicine resident who had first evaluated Fawn about her request for a hug. The resident chuckled. She asked me for a hug, too. Oh, said, my pride leaking by the second. What did you do? scoffed, as if the answer was obvious. I told her there were professional boundaries. Sure, said. That was a nice way of wording it. kicked myself for not thinking of that myself. But Fawn made an explicit request. realize I'm not obligated to comply with patients' wishes if they aren't medically indicated. A hug, however, isn't unwarranted gallbladder surgery or needless antibiotics. A hug isn't medical treatment. But from inside that moment, refusing a hug seemed inconceivable, even dangerous. confessed to a few residents what I'd done, certain there was something admirable in the act. They squirmed as if I'd just eaten food off the hospital floor. Don't touch your wife when you get home, said one nurse listening in. Shower and boil your clothes very first thing, said someone else. These young doctors and seasoned nurses were superb clinicians, kind and sensitive individuals, yet my hug was greeted with disbelief, even horror. wear regular street clothes when working in the emergency department, not scrubs. This commingling of my personal and professional life might have intensified the implications of my possible transgression. …

Crack and cocaine use among female prostitutes in Glasgow: Risky business

The experience of cocaine and ‘crack’ use among participants involved in (n = 19) or exiting (n = 10) prostitution in Glasgow, Scotland, is described. In-depth semi-structured qualitative interviews enquired about their use and experience of using cocaine and their perception of its effect on working practice. Twenty-three of 29 participants had used cocaine and 15 out of 29 had used crack cocaine. In reality, freebase not ‘crack’ was being self-manufactured from cocaine powder. Participants considered that cocaine use in the city was not restricted to prostitution but was reflected throughout the drug scene generally. One possible reason suggested for this was a perceived reduction in heroin availability at a time when cocaine was increasingly readily available. There was no evidence from participants to suggest that they were first introduced to cocaine through prostitution. Most participants believed that using cocaine did not affect how they worked, however they perceived that other prostitutes were prepared to take more risks to support their cocaine use and had to work longer hours to finance a cocaine habit compared to financing a heroin habit. Only participants recruited from the east end of the city spoke about their desperation for money and the sexual risks that they were prepared to take to buy cocaine. Harm-reduction messages should address the sexual and personal risks that some female prostitutes may be taking to support their cocaine use. Treatment and support services in the city, traditionally established to work with problematic heroin users, need to adapt to the changing drug trends among female drug users, including those involved in prostitution, and offer appropriate treatment options and harm-reduction advice to cocaine users.

Few kick the cocaine habit for good

Few kick the cocaine habit for good

Cocaine-induced alterations in neuro-development.

Gestational exposure to licit drugs of abuse such as alcohol and cigarettes, and illicit drugs of abuse such as marijuana, cocaine, and opiates is the single largest, preventable cause of in utero developmental compromise of infants in the United States today. Clinical and preclinical data suggest that cocaine may act as a behavioral teratogen, a drug capable of altering fetal brain development and subsequent function. Although many children exposed to cocaine in utero have normal development, some subset of infants, especially those who have sustained more significant prenatal exposures, are at risk for developmental compromise. There does not appear to be one outcome, but a spectrum of outcomes, which may relate to individual genetic differences in mothers and infants, to the specifics of the pregnant woman's cocaine habit, as well as to the richness of the postnatal environment. Alterations of arousal and habituation are evident in some cocaine-exposed neonates, especially following greater in utero exposures. Subtle but profoundly important behavioral deficits may persist, as recent data suggests that some cocaine-exposed children may have particular difficulty modulating attention, impulsivity, and responsivity, which are critically challenged in classroom settings. The goals of this article are to present concepts required to better understand cocaine-induced alterations in neuro-development, to outline mechanisms that may underlie such changes, and to discuss the potential clinical consequences of such alterations.

Depoliticizing Insurgency: The Politics of the Family in Alberta

In 1990 Alberta government, under premiership of Don Getty, launched a broad initiative to raise profile of the in Alberta's public policy and social life. In moment, Getty's family fervour appeared to be reaction of a troubled and politically well-placed father to very public disclosure of his son's cocaine habit. Yet vigour with which family initiative was pursued, ideological context to which Alberta state was shifting, and economic situation that was encouraging restructuring of provincial welfare state, suggest that Alberta's family initiative had a rationale that was considerably more coherent than such an idiosyncratic explanation would allow.

The New Challenge of Supervised Release

Recently, a probation officer encountered a situation that had the potential of becoming a crisis. An offender with a history of drug abuse and violence had reportedly begun stealing household items from his mother's residence to support a crack cocaine habit. Having tested positive for cocaine on multiple occasions, this offender was faltering in the court ordered drug aftercare program. The time had come for deliberate and expeditious action. Fortunately, the offender was under the new sentencing element of supervised release and the probation officer was able to approach the court with a petition for a warrant in a matter of minutes. This is one of the benefits of

Role of reward and enhancement of conditioned reward in persistence of responding for cocaine.

The primary rewarding effects of cocaine, based presumably on its powerful euphoric properties, are widely recognized and have been implicated as a major factor in the abuse potential of this drug. Several different experimental procedures have been developed to study the rewarding properties of cocaine in animals, and three of the most influential techniques, namely intravenous self-administration, pharmacological enhancement of brain-stimulation reward, and conditioned place preference, are described briefly. A related influence of cocaine that may also contribute to its strong control over behavior is the enhancement of the effects of conditioned rewarding stimuli. Experiments that exemplify this phenomenon are described along with those that relate to its neural substrates. Accordingly, the argument is advanced that the compulsion to abuse cocaine may be based on two distinct effects; (1) primary reward related to euphoria and (2) a more subtle but equally potent influence by which the drug amplifies or enhances the effects of conditioned rewarding stimuli. The final section of the paper reviews the literature pertaining to the facilitation of extinction by neuroleptic drugs. A combined behavioral pharmacologic intervention, involving extinction procedures in conjunction with neuroleptic treatment, is proposed as a potential therapeutic strategy for breaking the cocaine habit in humans.

William Halsted's cocaine habit.

To the Editor. —We read Dr Goldberg'sSpecial Articleon cocaine1with great interest. statement that William Halsted controlled his cocaine habit of the time is certainly true. What is not so generally agreed upon, however, is whether or not he ever completely kicked the cocaine habit. Unfortunately, Halsted's standard biographers, MacCallum2and Crowe,3are of little help. Neither author was close enough to the mysterious Halsted to provide a full account of this most carefully guarded aspect of his life. As a matter of fact, both were of the opinion that Halsted had managed to stop using the drug. Crowe stated that Halsted's perseverance and character to control and eventually overcome this addiction and to return to a splendid productive life was one of his crowning glories.3(p29) Other authors writing prior to the release of William Osler's The Inner History of Johns

The Cocaine Habit in France

Essay| September 01 1922 The Cocaine Habit in France Current History (1922) 16 (6): 1051. https://doi.org/10.1525/curh.1922.16.6.1051 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Twitter LinkedIn Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation The Cocaine Habit in France. Current History 1 September 1922; 16 (6): 1051. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/curh.1922.16.6.1051 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentCurrent History Search This content is only available via PDF. © 1922 by The Regents of the University of California1922 Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

A Grave Case of Morphia and Cocaine Habit [Considérations sur un cas grave de morphi-cocaïnomanie]. (Prog. Méd., May 12th, 1900.) Sollier, P

The patient was a medical man, æt. 40; the morphia habit dated back ten years, the maximum daily dose being 3 grammes; the cocaine habit was more recent. When the case came under Sollier's treatment the intoxication was profound; the patient was emaciated; there was diffuse induration of the subcutaneous tissue, and there were numerous ulcers in the abdominal region where the patient injected the drugs; the urine contained albumen, and severe uræmic symptoms had appeared; the hæmoglobin was reduced to 4·5 per cent., and was shown by the spectroscope to be very imperfectly oxidised. The author specially indicates this blood-state, as he considers that the symptoms of collapse on the withdrawal of morphia are due to asphyxia.

The Cocaine Habit from Snuff

The Cocaine Habit from Snuff

On the Cocaine Habit in Diseases of Throat and Nose

On the Cocaine Habit in Diseases of Throat and Nose