Substance Abuse

Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse refers to the harmful or hazardous use of any substance in order to alter the mood, induce a feel good trans or boost your courage (usually to do dangerous and crazy things you won't usually do). These abuse can range from over taking of seemingly innocent substances like prescription drugs, alcohol, marijuana, tobacco and other legal substances to street drugs like cocaine, meth, ecstasy or molly and heroin. Which ever it is, it is very important to take out time to research and understand the dangers and health effects of these substance abuse to the body and the mind.

Alcohol and Tobacco The Worlds Must Abused Substances 

Yes we know that alcohol is legal for adults and there is nothing really "wrong" in taking a few drinks to unwind and chill with friends. But, high amount of alcohol in the blood can be very negative to your health and it doesn't take much alcohol to reach that harmful level.
When the body reaches this harmful alcohol level after it takes in more alcohol than it can metabolize, the excess builds up in the bloodstream and gets circulated to all part of the body, leading to changes in hormonal levels and normal body functions. Constant alcohol abuse can lead to a whole lot of health issues like:

• Low level of red blood cells carrying oxygen to the brain thereby causing anemia 
• High risk of cancer
• Liver problems
• High blood pressure and Heart problems
• Dementia and loss of memory as they get older
• Nerve damage and multiple seizures 
• A weaker immune system 

Tobacco Abuse

Even though tobacco is legal, tobacco abuse can lead to harmful effects on the health and body of an individual. Tobacco use is the single greatest cause of a lot of preventable death globally.
The tobacco smoke contains more than fifty chemicals some of which causes various kinds of cancer. Tobacco also contains nicotine, which is a highly addictive psychoactive drug making it very hard to quite once you get addicted.

Tobacco use leads most commonly to diseases affecting the heart, liver and lungs. Smoking is a major risk factor for heart attacks, strokes and several cancers.

The Dangers Of Substance Abuse 

Illegal substance abuse of any kind even abuse of different prescription drug types can be very dangerous because they do more than just altering your mood, they can cloud your judgment, erode your immune system defences to various kinds of diseases, distort your perceptions and attitude, and alter your reaction time, all of which can put you in serious danger of falling a victim to both accidents and injuries or something even much worse like harming your loved ones.
Not only that, some of these substances are potentially addictive, even something as innocent as a prescription of pain reliever, over-the-counter medications,
inhalants or solvents, and even coffee and cigarettes can all become addictive and harmful if taken in excess and abused. Theoretically speaking, almost any substance can be abused.