Heroin addiction like all opiate addictions occurs when heroin is administered over a sustained period of time. The onset of heroin addiction can be both rapid and severe, dependent on the amount used and frequency in a designated period of time. Heroin addicts will "crave" more of the drug and experience withdrawal symptoms if they do not get their regular "fix" or dose. Not all of the mechanisms by which heroin and other opiates affect the brain are known.

Heroin is an opiod agonist. It's is a semi-synthetic drug which is derived from opium, and has the chemical formula C21H23NO3. Opium is produced by the opium poppy - papaver somniferum. The group of opiod agonists includes many other drugs, one is morphine, the direct derivative of opium.

Treatment involving substitute drugs or drugs that block the physical effects of narcotics addiction and, Treatment that addresses the root cause of why one becomes a drug addict. The latter tends to be much more successful in dealing permanently with heroin addiction. [See The Narconon Program] Methadone is a narcotic in the same general class as heroin. It was originally designed as a pain reliever in cases of severe pain.

Heroin Addiction Recovery is similar to the recovery of most addictive drugs, except that heroin addiction withdrawal can last several weeks to months. Attempting heroin addiction detoxification without professional assistance is not only dangerous, but sometimes deadly. Heroin addiction withdrawal can cause serious physical and emotional trauma including stroke, heart attack, and even death.

How does it begin and when does a pattern of behavior become an addiction? Some individuals seem to have the expertise to use a substance or engage in a behavior periodically over a period of years without becoming 'hooked.' Others; however are not capable of stopping and become addicted. The causes of addiction have been studied for several years. In bountious ways, addiction is caused by the emotion the substance or behavior brings about in the user.

According to the 1996 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, which may actually underestimate illicit opiate (heroin) use, an estimated 2.4 million people use heroin at some time in their lives, and nearly 216,000 of them reported using it within the month preceding the survey. The survey report estimates that there were 141,000 new heroin users in 1995, and that there has been an increasing trend in new heroin use since 1992.

One of the most detrimental long-term effects of heroin is heroin addiction itself. Addiction is a chronic problem, characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use, and by neurochemical and molecular changes in the brain. Heroin also produces profound degrees of tolerance and physical dependence, which are also powerful motivating factors for compulsive use and abuse.

Medical consequences of chronic heroin abuse include scarred and/or collapsed veins, bacterial infections of the blood vessels and heart valves, abscesses (boils) and other soft-tissue infections, and liver or kidney disease. Lung complications (including various types of pneumonia and tuberculosis) may result from the poor health condition of the abuser as well as from heroin's depressing effects on respiration.

Heroin abuse can cause serious complications during pregnancy, including miscarriage and premature delivery. Children born to addicted mothers are at greater risk of SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome), as well.

Heroin is a more refined form of morphine, and requires a smaller dose for the same effect. Many opiates may be very efficient painkillers, with few euphoric effects, and the vice versa applies in a couple of examples. Heroin has very effective abilities in both the euphoric and analgesic areas. This essentially means that it creates an intense feeling of well being and relief from stresses and it relieves physical pains.

Heroin slows down breathing, and can stop it altogether. Most heroin overdoses occur when heroin is combined with other drugs with a depressant effect, particularly alcohol and sleeping pills like Valium or Normison. While overdoses caused by a single high IV dose of pure heroin may cause immediate death, many overdose victims do not fall into an immediate coma as is often the portrayal of OD in popular culture.

If a user ceases consumption of opiates after developing dependence, they will experience withdrawal. Physical withdrawal from heroin peaks on the 3rd or 4th day, and is pretty much over by the 8th day. Level of severity and types of withdrawal symptoms experienced can be very individual. A user consuming more each day will tend to have more severe symptoms than a friend using less, but gender, age, state of physical and mental health, and many other thing can affect this.

Although we are refused prescription heroin, users are offered drugs like methadone and buprenorphine, supposedly to "treat" your dependence. These drugs simply maintain your habit, and withdrawal will be experienced if you stop using them straightaway, same as with heroin. They can be very important, providing people with a way of functioning without heroin, but prescription diacetylmorphine could meet this role just as well. Naltrexone is a drug which blocks the effects of opiates.

Dependence on benzodiazepines has been reported when they have been used continuously for many months or years. This does not mean that patients are "addicted" to their medication. Addiction is a pattern of drug abuse characterized by an overwhelming preoccupation with the use of a drug, including build up of a physical tolerance to the drug's effects and intense drug-seeking behaviour.

Treatment can take many different forms, vary in length of time and take place in a variety of settings. For many, treatment is a long term process that involves multiple attempts to achieve recovery.