This video was made possible by WIX. If you are ready to create a website, head
over to wix.com/go/infographics to try out one of their premium plans right now. Heroin was first manufactured in 1898 by the
Bayer pharmaceutical company of Germany and marketed as a treatment for tuberculosis as
well as a remedy for morphine addiction. Made from the resin of poppy flowers, other
chemicals are added and it’s then filtered and refined to become the street drug known
as heroin. The average cost of a single dose of 0.1g
of heroin is approximately $15 to $20 in the US, costing between $150 and $200 per day
for an addict to support their habit. In this episode of The Infographics Show we’ll
be exploring just how bad this drug is, as we find out: What Does Heroin Do To Your Body? Before we answer that question, let’s first
look at how the drug is taken and how many heroin users exist in the United States. Heroin is an opioid derivative and an estimated
13.5 million people in the world take opioids, of which 9.2 million are heroin users. According to the National Survey on Drug Use
and Health in 2016 about 948,000 Americans reported using heroin in that year, with the
greatest increases being by young adults aged 18 to 25. The number of people using heroin for the
first time in 2016 was 170,000, which is nearly double the number of people from 10 years
previous. British newspaper The Guardian reported in
2017 that according to a study based on a survey of almost 80,000 people, heroin use
among American adults has increased almost fivefold in the last decade. Researchers found that just after the year
2000, 0.33% of the adults reported having used heroin at some point in their life. 10 years later it had risen to 1.6%, which
equates to about 3.8 million Americans. “There are more people in the US using heroin,
there are more people that meet criteria for heroin addiction, and we are seeing increases
in all different social strata, in different age groups, in both sexes,” said Silvia
Martins, lead author of the research from Columbia University Mailman School of Public
Health. And these figures may even be low as it’s
likely that many heroin users simply don’t take part in health surveys. When we think of heroin we think needles,
but heroin can be smoked, which is known as "chasing the dragon" and depending on the
purity of the drug and the preference of the user, and it can also be snorted. If injected, heroin can be administered into
a vein or a muscle. Heroin addicts tend to inject the drug into
a vein as the effects take hold faster. Shortly after taking heroin, users report
that they feel a rush of euphoria, dry mouth, and a warm flushing of the skin. There is relief from pain and anxiety, arms
and legs often feel unnaturally heavy, the body temperature increases, the mouth becomes
parched and people often feel nauseous and vomit. The heart rate slows or is irregular, breathing
will also slow down and a person goes into a dream like state falling in and out of consciousness. All of these effects relate to taking a small
amount of heroin, depending on the tolerance level of the user. An addict will have a much higher tolerance
and need more of the drug to feel the same effect. But effects on your body can ultimately be
what leads to a deadly overdose. If to much heroin is taken it can cause a
person’s brain to not receive enough blood, and the respiratory system can go from slow
breathing to complete shutdown. What about the longer term effects of taking
heroin on a regular basis? Unfortunately, the news is not good. You can develop infections of the heart lining
and valves, usually as a result of lack of sterile injection techniques; Approximately
70% to 80% of new hepatitis C infections in the US each year are the result of injection
drug use; Kidney disease is prevalent among long term users; Pulmonary complications,
which are often infection related; Skin infections and abscesses are common; oral health problems
including damaged teeth and swelling of the gums; Skin problems from scratching; And problems
with sexual functioning. Heroin impacts your body and health in a myriad
of negative ways in the long-term. There’s also the potential for permanent
organ damage to the liver & kidneys, and brain damage from a lack of oxygen that occurs during
overdoses. And chronic heroin users often have lung problems
including tuberculosis and pneumonia. One of the biggest issues with heroin is that
it is highly addictive. Physical addiction to heroin means it is very
tough to stop taking the drug as the body changes, putting the user through traumatic
mental and physical side effects. A user who has been on the drug for some time
will have a very high tolerance, making the withdrawal even trickier. When people are addicted to heroin and they
try to stop using, they can experience extreme withdrawal symptoms from between 48 and 72
hours to even longer after stopping use. The symptoms can include extreme craving for
the drug, restlessness, muscle and bone pain, and vomiting. It takes many addicts several attempts to
get off the drug and many never do. Addiction recovery rates for popular 12 Step
groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous, or AA, may be as low as 5-10%, according to Dr. Lance
Dodes, the author of The Sober Truth: Debunking the Bad Science Behind 12-Step Programs and
the Rehab Industry. So other than ‘going cold turkey’ which
means to stop and withdraw suddenly and completely from the drug, often without support, or checking
into a rehab clinic, what other ways are there? In recent years, there’s been a lot of research
into alternative methods. We found an interesting article in British
newspaper The Guardian about a chap named Jay. Jay was smoking cigarettes and marijuana at
the age of 12, snorting cocaine by 16 and by the time he turned 18 he was onto heroin
and crack cocaine. Amazingly he still went through University
and managed to land a job as a banker in the City of London. But it didn’t last long with Jay’s marriage,
health and life in general breaking down as he continued to take drugs. By that point Jay was mostly taking heroin,
following an unrelated stomach operation that left him addicted to painkillers before he
got back on to heroin after the doctor stopped the prescription. Jay took the rehab route and checked into
to a $13,000-a-week centre in Thailand in 2016. He was clean for a while but like many addicts
Jay relapsed. Then a friend told him about ibogaine, a drug
from an obscure African plant that Jay’s friend said would enable him to come off heroin
without the lengthy, painful withdrawal…and stay off. His friend said the drug would help Jay understand
where his addictive behavior was coming from. It would invoke a spiritual experience as
if speaking to God. After a lot of online research online and
speaking to different doctors overseas, Jay eventually flew to South Africa to try the
treatment. One Monday morning he took a test dose of
ibogaine. He swallowed a small capsule with a glass
of water. An hour later Jay felt like his withdrawals
had disappeared. The next 12 to 18 hours were a blur, though
he remembered one vivid dream “I could see a lady, almost like Mother Mary, shaking a
finger at me. She was offering to take me to wherever she
was going, and I was saying, ‘No, no, no.’ Jay flew back home and in the 10 months since,
he hasn’t had a single relapse. He explained to the Guardian newspaper that
he had developed a new sense of confidence, has a new job, and girlfriend and finally
feels like a functioning member of society. With all the pain and uncertainty that surrounds
heroin withdrawal, ibogaine sounds like a miracle cure, but there’s a catch. At this stage Ibogaine is illegal in the US,
France, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, Poland, Croatia and Switzerland and strongly restricted
in the UK under the 2016 Psychoactive Substances Act. And Jay also experienced some possible side
effects. Once he was back in England he was rushed
into hospital and diagnosed with a congenital heart problem. Something he said could have been exacerbated
by taking ibogaine. In September last year, at an ibogaine conference
in Vienna, 20 experts, including medical professionals, providers or activists, gathered to increase
awareness of the drug and to encourage more research in Europe. Whatever the answer, it’s clear that heroin
and other opioids are a big problem and the epidemic is growing. In the US alone deaths from opioids have been
rising sharply for years, and drug overdoses already kill more Americans under age 50 than
anything else. And nearly half a million people across America
could die from opioids over the next decade. Wow...ok, these are some pretty sad statistics,
so let’s pivot away from them for a moment. We want to thank our sponsor Wix for letting
us create these videos, even when they have to deal with topics like these. Here's a little bit more information on Wix:
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head start today with the amazing website you deserve! Is there an answer to fix this growing issue? Has drug abuse impacted your life? Let us know in the comments! Also be sure to check out our other video,
Pablo Escobar - How Did He Become The King of Cocaine! Thanks for watching, and, as always, don’t
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