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Harm Reduction Interesting Case Study of IV Drug User's Lungs

W

WOLTERP

Bluelighter
Joined
Nov 24, 2003
Messages
95
Location
So Cal
I stumbled upon an interesting article exploring the various deposits of pill binder material found in a pulmonary pathology study. It clues as to which binders are most harmful etc. For example, the findings suggest that talc and microcrystalline cellulose may be particularly harmful as they cause granulomatous reactions in the lungs which in excesses, seriously impairs lung function. On the other hand, Magnesium stearate and starch, while also irritating to lungs are not frequently associated with granulomatous reaction and thus may not be as harmful.... Check it out.

http://test.pathologyportal.org/site~/99th/specpulmh3v.htm
 
I noticed there was nothing from snorting in there, that makes me a bit happy. Went on a 3 day opana binge, and ended up in the hospital with bronchitis today. Had to have a breathing treatment....
 
damonoxide said:
+1 for micron filters.
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Yeah, no kidding.

Thank you for sharing, WOLTERP. One more reason why all of our nations should, rather than throwing away countless amounts of money on this "war against drugs", instead provide users with the things they need to stay safe. In terms of cost it would be a drop in the bucket relative to the amount that is being spent on prohibition.

All we're doing now is waiting until our users get extremely ill and have to foot a bill much higher than a campaign of harm-reduction would have cost.
 
Secobarbital said:
I noticed there was nothing from snorting in there...
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Yeah, when you snort or inhale you tend to coat your lungs externally with particles, most of which can be coughed out again.

With IVed stuff however, the lungs would filter particles from the "inside" and they would stay embedded in there. As someone said, micron filters (0.22 for talc).

I also read something about damage to the optic nerve caused by IV'd talc.

The horrible thing with this kind of hazard is that - contrary to infection - it appears years later, when it's too late to do anything.
 
If your lungs had problems with breathing in micron-sized dust then you would almost certainly perish if you went outside on a pollen filled day.

Yay, cilia!
 
sekio said:
If your lungs had problems with breathing in micron-sized dust then you would almost certainly perish if you went outside on a pollen filled day.
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The difference is that some particles (eg silica) are never degraded and stay in the lungs for ever.
 
The difference is that some particles (eg silica) are never degraded and stay in the lungs for ever.
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Are particles actively degraded in your lungs? I always assumed they just got caught up in mucus and then transported up and out. If there was some metabolism or bacterial breakdown action going on in there it would be super cool though.
 
I just posted this in a separate thread but it has relevance to this convo as well. It seems that some fillers such as corn starch are biodegradable and thus less harmful as the body will eventually break down the material. Things like talc are not biodegradable and remain in the body indefinitely to wreak havoc.

Here is the article http://www.parentalunderground.com/blog/?p=72
 
^WOLTERP's comments are referring to IV administration. I was interested in your response to sekio's comment about inhalation of micron sized pollen versus micron sized silica. If a dust particle of silica gets stuck in an alveolar sac it can't be expelled and can cause problems. If a dust particle of pollen gets stuck in an alveolar sac it can't be expelled but you implied it degrades. I'm curious about what mechanism facilitates this degradation.
 
amapola said:
If a dust particle of silica gets stuck in an alveolar sac it can't be expelled and can cause problems. If a dust particle of pollen gets stuck in an alveolar sac it can't be expelled but you implied it degrades. I'm curious about what mechanism facilitates this degradation.
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Regarding silica, it is basically silicon oxide. Silicon oxide is not only biologically undegradable. It is also chemically undegradable (indestructible). That's why the end-product of wheathering in nature is sand, which is 99% silicon oxide. I guess everything in nature (and in the human body) degrades with time, except virtually indestructible things like silica. By the way, asbestos is a silica mineral.
 
^Yes thank you, but what happens if you stop to sniff a forget-me-not and a 5micron piece of pollen gets lodged in your alveolar sac. I understand it can degrade into simple cellulose molecules and further, but I am curious as to how this occurs in the lungs.
 
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