Inhalant Abuse

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Inhalants

Inhalant Abuse

Inhalants are substances whose vapors can be inhaled to produce a mind-altering effect. Inhalants can be categorized as:

Volatile solvents, such as paint thinners, degreasers, and glues;

Aerosols, such as hair sprays and vegetable oil sprays for cooking;

Gases, including ether, Nitrous oxide, and propane; and

Nitrites, including cyclohexyl nitrite, Amyl nitrite, and Butyl nitrite.

Inhalants as a class of drugs share one main characteristic: They are rarely, if ever, taken by any route other than inhalation.

Who abuses inhalants?

Inhalants are often among the first drugs that young children use. About 6 percent of children in the United States have tried inhalants by the time they reach fourth grade. In 1999, NIDA's Monitoring the Future survey showed that 19.7 percent of 8th-graders, 17 percent of 10th-graders, and 15.4 percent of 12th-graders said they had abused inhalants at least once.

How do people use inhalants?

Inhalant abusers can sniff or snort fumes from containers, spray aerosols directly into the nose or mouth, "huff" fumes from an inhalant-soaked rag stuffed into the mouth, sniff fumes from substances sprayed into a paper or plastic bag, or inhale from balloons filled with nitrous oxide. The quick high from inhalants lasts only a few minutes, so abusers often inhale repeatedly over several hours-a practice that can cause unconsciousness and even death.

Early recognition of inhalant abuse is important for parents and physicians. Signs include chemical odors on the breath or clothes, paint or other stains on skin or clothes, slurred speech and drunk or disoriented appearance, nausea or lack of appetite, and inattentiveness and lack of coordination.
What are the short-term effects of inhalant abuse?

Inhaled chemicals travel rapidly from the lungs through the blood to the brain and other organs. In minutes, the user feels Alcohol-like effects such as slurred speech, clumsy movements, dizziness, and euphoria. Other effects might include lightheadedness, Hallucinations, delusions, and, after heavy use of inhalants, drowsiness and a lingering headache. Inhaled nitrites dilate blood vessels, increase heart rate, and produce a sensation of heat and excitement.

What are the medical consequences of inhalant abuse?

The most serious hazard for inhalant abusers is a syndrome called "sudden sniffing death." A single, prolonged session of inhalant use can produce rapid and irregular heart rhythms, heart failure, and death. It can happen within minutes and can strike an otherwise healthy young person. But inhalant abuse can cause death in other ways, too-asphyxiation, suffocation, or choking.

Chronic exposure to inhalants causes widespread and long-lasting damage to the nervous system and other vital organs. The toxic chemicals damage parts of the brain that control learning, movement, vision, and hearing. Damage to the heart, lungs, liver, and kidneys may be permanent.

What about HIV/AIDS?

An added risk for people who abuse nitrites, mainly older adolescents and adults, arises from the reason they use the Drug: to enhance sexual pleasure. Thus, use of nitrites is associated with unsafe sexual practices that increase the risk of contracting or transmitting infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis.

Definitions of Terms Used

Term	Description
AIDS	Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome. A condition characterized by a defect in the body's natural immunity to diseases. Individuals who suffer from it are at risk for severe illnesses that are usually not a threat to anyone whose immune system is working properly.
Alcohol	Refers to ethyl alcohol or ethanol.
Amyl nitrite	A yellowish oily volatile liquid used in certain diagnostic procedures and prescribed to some patients for heart pain. Illegally diverted ampules of amyl nitrite are called poppers or snappers on the street.
Butyl nitrite	An illegal substance that is often packaged and sold in small bottles; also referred to as poppers.
Chronic	Refers to a disease or condition that persists over a long period of time. Also a slang term for a particularly potent strain of marijuana.
Drug	Any substance, other than food, that changes the function or structure of the body or mind when ingested. Drugs essentially are poisons. The degree they are taken determines the effect. A small amount acts as a stimulant. A greater amount acts as a sedative. A larger amount acts as a poison and can kill one dead. This is true of any drug. Each has a different amount at which it gives those results.
Drug abuse	The use of illegal drugs or the inappropriate use of legal drugs. The repeated use of drugs to produce pleasure, to alleviate stress, or to alter or avoid reality - or all three.
Hallucinations	Perceptions of something (such as a visual image or a sound) that does not really exist. Hallucinations usually arise from a disorder of the nervous system or in response to drugs (such as LSD).
Hepatitis	Inflammation of the liver.
Inhalants	Any drug administered by breathing in its vapors. Most inhalants are organic solvents such as glue and paint thinner, or anesthetic gases such as ether and nitrous oxide.
Nitrites	A special class of inhalants that act primarily to dilate blood vessels and relax the muscles. Whereas other inhalants are used to alter mood, nitrites are used primarily as sexual enhancers. (See also amyl nitrite and butyl nitrite).
Nitrous oxide	An inhalant, also known as "laughing gas." Nitrous oxide is a weak anesthetic that does not produce unconsciousness. Repeated use of "nitrous" can cause the fatty tissue in the brain to deteriorate, resulting in severe headaches, hallucinations, hand and foot numbness and spasms in arms and legs.