This Is the Horrifying Thing Cocaine Can Do to Your Brain, According to Experts

High doses of cocaine can cause the brain to eat itself, research suggests.

A mouse study found that the drug can trigger out-of-control ”autophagy” – a process by which cells literally digest themselves.

When it is properly regulated, autophagy provides a valuable clean-up service – getting rid of unwanted debris that is dissolved away by enzymes within cell ”pockets”.

Dr Prasun Guha, from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in the US – who led the research published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, said: ”A cell is like a household that is constantly generating trash.

”Autophagy is the housekeeper that takes out the trash – it’s usually a good thing. But cocaine makes the housekeeper throw away really important things, like mitochondria, which produce energy for the cell.” (Read more from “This Is the Horrifying Thing Cocaine Can Do to Your Brain, According to Experts” HERE)

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