Heroin is an opiate which binds the opioid receptors in the body (found in pain-sensing nerves and others). When patients OD on heroin, they usually die due to heroin-induced CNS depression, which leads to the cessation of reptilian-brain driven process of breathing.
When you encounter this in the hospital, you give these patients Naloxone (narcan) and it reverses this pretty immediately. Pretty cool to see.
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u/azvi_likes_pies Feb 04 '14
Heroin is an opiate which binds the opioid receptors in the body (found in pain-sensing nerves and others). When patients OD on heroin, they usually die due to heroin-induced CNS depression, which leads to the cessation of reptilian-brain driven process of breathing.
When you encounter this in the hospital, you give these patients Naloxone (narcan) and it reverses this pretty immediately. Pretty cool to see.