Why can some stimulants like meth or cocaine potentially significantly enhance a person’s physical capabilities, while others like caffeine cannot?

Question

Or can it, but in higher doses?

In: Chemistry

Answer 1

Different drugs interact with different targets in our bodies (enzymes, receptors, ion channels) and some of these targets trigger stronger reactions than others.

The chemical structure of caffeine, for instance, is similar to that of adenosine, a molecule used to regulate the effect of epinephrine and norepinephrine. The triggers mistakenly bind caffeine instead of adenosine and the regulatory system is only partially “turned on”.

Cocaine affects the epinephrine/norepinephrine system in the same way, but it does so by triggering different targets that work on a higher scale; it also affects the systems using dopamine, endorphines and serotonine, hence the broader range of effects.