WEBVTT - Can nasal sprays be addictive?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstop from house Stuff works dot com where

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<v Speaker 1>smart Happens. Hi Am Marshall Brain with today's question, can

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<v Speaker 1>nasal sprays be addictive? It's pretty scary to think that

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<v Speaker 1>you're addicted to any drug, especially when available at a

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<v Speaker 1>grocery store. Oprah Winfrey even devoted an entire show to

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<v Speaker 1>people who can't live without their decongested spray. But fortunately

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<v Speaker 1>it's safe to say that you're not really addicted if

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<v Speaker 1>you think you're addicted to these sprays. Doctors and scientists

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<v Speaker 1>define addiction in different ways. Scientists call drugs addictive if

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<v Speaker 1>they stimulate the pleasure center in your brain. Psychiatrists, on

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<v Speaker 1>the other hand, say something is addictive if your need

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<v Speaker 1>for it makes you do illegal, harmful things to get it.

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<v Speaker 1>Nasal sprays don't do either of these things. They have

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<v Speaker 1>no effect on the brain, and while you may need

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<v Speaker 1>your medicine to breathe freely, you probably aren't going to

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<v Speaker 1>hold up a bank or skip work to go buy

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<v Speaker 1>some nasal Sprayser drops are sold over the counter under

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<v Speaker 1>brand names like Afrin, Sinex, Neo, sinephron, Alarrest, Durhamist, and

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<v Speaker 1>sine Arrest. They contain a medicine that constricts the blood

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<v Speaker 1>vessels inside your nose. When you have a cold, the

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<v Speaker 1>flu or allergies, these blood vessels becomes swollen and dilated.

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<v Speaker 1>This stimulates the nasal membranes to produce large amounts of mucus,

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<v Speaker 1>like stepping on a garden hose. Constricting the blood vessels

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<v Speaker 1>reduces the blood flow to your nostrils. The swollen vessels shrink,

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<v Speaker 1>and this helps drive things up. Unfortunately, your nose can

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<v Speaker 1>become tolerant to decongested effects if you use it for

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<v Speaker 1>too long. Tolerance in general happens because your body launches

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<v Speaker 1>a biological counter attack against the effects of the drug.

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<v Speaker 1>One way it does this is by increasing cellular process

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<v Speaker 1>and other activities that produce the opposite effect. In the

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<v Speaker 1>case of decongestents, the body tries to dilate the nasal

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<v Speaker 1>blood vessels despite the drug. This cancels out the decongestents effect,

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<v Speaker 1>and the same squeeze of the bottle that brought you

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<v Speaker 1>relief before no longer helps. You end up using more

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<v Speaker 1>and more to get rid of your stuff. He knows,

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<v Speaker 1>and each time you sniff more decongestent, your body redoubles

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<v Speaker 1>its efforts against the resulting constriction. This vicious cycle continues

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<v Speaker 1>until you can't exist without a bottle of nasal spray

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<v Speaker 1>in hand. If you don't use it, you're stuffed up

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<v Speaker 1>and miserable. This is called rebound congestion. With lots of

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<v Speaker 1>medicine on board, your nasal passages are dry and you

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<v Speaker 1>feel healthy. With the medicine gun, the physiological effects that

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<v Speaker 1>your body has made rain unchecked. What happens is the

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<v Speaker 1>exact opposite of the drug's effect. Your blood vessels swell

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<v Speaker 1>up again, and your nasal lie fills up with mucus

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<v Speaker 1>and your running nose returns. This is why the package

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<v Speaker 1>labeling for these drugs tells you to limit their use

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<v Speaker 1>to three days in a row. If you don't build

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<v Speaker 1>up tolerance to the decongested effects, you won't get rebound congestion.

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<v Speaker 1>And if you are tolerant, don't worry. It's not permanent.

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<v Speaker 1>If you quit cold Turkey, the changes that your body

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<v Speaker 1>has made will eventually be reversed in a couple of

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<v Speaker 1>weeks to a month. In the meantime, your doctor may

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<v Speaker 1>be able to give you a prescription drug to safely

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<v Speaker 1>combat your congestion. For more on this and thousands of

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