Two radio interviews with Dr. Arturo Taca of INSynergy, St. Louis on addiction Medicine. More

Rodney: I’d like to welcome everybody back to the RSVP Health show. Our guest is Dr. Taca. Ed, have you gathered the questions from our panel? More

Rodney: My guest is Dr. Arturo Taca of INSynergy from Creve Coeur up in St. Louis, Missouri. I’d like to welcome you to the show, Dr. Taca. More

How do drugs work in the brain?

Drugs are chemicals. They work in the brain by tapping into the brain’s communication system and interfering with the way nerve cells normally send, receive, and process information. Some drugs, such as marijuana and heroin, can activate neurons because their chemical structure mimics that of a natural neurotransmitter. This similarity in structure “fools” receptors and allows the drugs to lock onto and activate the nerve cells. Although these drugs mimic brain chemicals, they don’t activate nerve cells in the same way as a natural neurotransmitter, and they lead to abnormal messages being transmitted through the network. More

Finally, developments in the field of addiction medicine has allowed clinicians to effectively treat once deadly addictions such as alcoholism, heroin and pain pill addiction, and nicotine dependence. Better understanding of the brain and its circuits help us understand that addiction is really what we have been saying for decades, “Addiction is a medical illness”. It only makes sense to offer medical options to help reduce the risk of dying from these addictions. Now, there are several medical options available to help eliminate cravings and disarm the effects of illicit drugs by blocking their euphoric effects.  More