Reply To: Drugs Abuse and ADHD

[wanderquest]

Something else to consider. I understand your thesis is about dopaminergic drugs as they relate to a dompamine deficiency. Dopamine is only a component of ADHD, it also involves issues with norepinephrine  and choline. The brain is a stew of hard to spell chemicals.

Which would possibly explain why some people get “lit up” by some drugs but not others. Most drugs work on more than one receptor as well. Depending on what your brain is deficient in, could affect your drug of choice.

And out of curiosity I looked into the nicotine addiction. Smoking does release dopamine but the main thing it does in creating addiction is actually increasing the number of nicotinic receptors. Your brain gets to where it’s more interested in the nicotine than the dopamine. So if a neruotypical starts smoking occasionally because it feels good (dopamine) they may continue to smoke infrequently but eventually become addicted solely for the nicotine.

I imagine that could be the case in several other drugs as well, even if their primary effect is dopaminergic. Dopamine deficiency would certainly be the place to start looking, and it could lead to other research about the other transmitters.

Are you involved in some type of university community? I definitely think your idea is worth pursuing. As you stated, not only for what it could mean from a prevention standpoint, but for treatment as well.

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