Heads Up: Real News About Drugs and Your Body - Scholastic

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Pain Meets Poisonwww.scholastic.com/HEADSUPCLOSE-UP: INHALANTSBy Cate BailyThe true story of how one teen huffed herway to rock bottom and almost diedUntil she was 12, Megan Hakeman had asimple life in Watertown, South Dakota, a smalltown with one mall and one movie theater. Shedescribed herself as a “regular, happy kid” whohung out with friends and watched TV. The onlyreal suffering she’d known was losing hergrandfather, but she said she accepted that as“part of life.”Then, things gotcomplicated. Megan wassexually abused by a trustedfriend.“I thought about it [theattack] a lot and I didn’tknow what to do. I wantedit to go away,” she says.Too afraid to tell herparents and unsure ofhow else to cope withher feelings, Megandecided to try toescape her pain. Afriend showed her how to gethigh using inhalants.Inhalants are, to put itsimply, poisons. Most of themare common householdproducts, like spray paints, airfresheners, paint thinner,correction fluid, and lighterfluid. All give off toxic fumes.HURTING HERSELFMegan and a group offriends began “huffing”together often. They joined the15.2% of their peers who haveexperimented with inhalants bythe time they’re in 8th grade.Megan Hakeman, 16FORMER INHALANT ABUSERBut Megan’s friends soonlearned something terrifying:Huffing can kill you. So, theywisely quit.Despite this scary news,Megan kept huffing alone. Herwhole sense of self-worth wasout of whack after the sexualabuse. “I figured why not hurtmyself, if he [the attacker] hurtme,” she told Scholastic.And she was indeed hurtingherself and risking manymedical consequences. Dr.David Shurtleff, the ActingDirector of Neuroscience andBehavioral Research at NIDA,says that inhalants can affectyour ability to think, talk,remember, hear, and evenwalk. “Really what you’redoing is destroying nerve fibersthroughout the brain,” he says.HURTING MOMIt wasn’t just Megan’s braincells that were in danger. Sheignored her schoolwork.Her best friend dumpedher because of the druguse. And she lashed out ather mom.“I always hit mymom when I was using,”says Megan. “I feel reallybad because I should havenever hit my mom. That’ssomething that nobody shouldever do.”These violent outburstsmay have been an effect of theinhalants. According to Dr.Shurtleff, huffing can causeagitation, irritability, and evenviolent behavior.EMBARRASSMENT TOTHE FAMILYMegan hit rock bottom onenight. High on inhalants andother drugs, she rode on top ofa friend’s car, fell off, and gota concussion.Then, rock bottom got evenlower. The next night, shefought with her brother. Hesaid she was an embarrassment10FROM SCHOLASTIC AND THE SCIENTISTS OF THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
STEPHEN KRONINGER(ILLUSTRATIONS 2); 5W INFOGRAPHICS(DIAGRAM)to the family.That struck a chord withMegan. “I knew it was true, butI didn’t want to hear it,”she says.She was so upset that sheattempted suicide. Luckily,she was rushed to the hospitalin time.After her trip to the ER,Megan finally got intotreatment at a facility calledOur Home, Inc., in Heron,South Dakota. Today, she’s 16,and she’s been inhalant free foralmost two years.A NEW LIFEOn the day we spoke to her,Megan had plans to make“play-doh” with her friends.Why would a teenager want todo something so childish?Because for Megan, smilingover something silly is what hernew life is all about.But things are not as simpleas they once were. Megan stillsuffers from some of the effectsof her inhalant abuse. “I can’treally remember a lot ofthings,” she told us. “When I’mtalking I’ll forget what I justsaid two seconds ago. Itfrustrates me a lot.”Whether or not her memoryis restored, Megan will neverbe the same. She says she nowappreciates every day becauseshe knows that she is one of thelucky ones. She survived, andshe easily could have died.INHALANTS CAN KILLYou can die the first time you try inhalants.There are a number of ways huffing can kill. Themost common is called Sudden Sniffing Deathsyndrome. “The chemicals are acting neurologically tocause irregular heart rhythms that can lead to heartfailure and then death,” says Dr. Shurtleff.You can also die by asphyxiation (lack of oxygen).When you breathe in the fumes, you fill up the cells inyour lungs with poisonous chemicals, leaving no room forthe oxygen we all need to breathe and live. Lack ofoxygen can lead to respiratory failure and death.In this country, approximately 100 teens die eachyear from inhalant abuse. Last year, Johnson BryantWHO NEEDS MYELIN?Inhalants can damage or destroymyelin. But who needs myelin? You do.Messages travel along the axons ofyour brain cells (or neurons) in the formof electricity. Think of myelin as theinsulation around these electrical“wires.” It’s a fatty coating, or sheath,that protects the axons and helpsconduct messages smoothly and speedily,ensuring that your muscles easily carryout your brain’s orders.When myelin deteriorates, this smoothflow of signals is disrupted. The result?Muscle spasms and tremors, or evenpermanent difficulty with basic actionslike walking, bending, and talking.TransmittingneuronSignalDamaged myelinOver-the-Counter HorrorFbecame one of those teens. Still in shock, his parentstalked to us about their tremendous loss.Chris Bryant, father: “Johnson and I had anunusually close relationship. . . .This was a child who wentto a private school, had an A-/B+ average, playedvarsity sports, and made a very bad decision.”Toy Bryant, mother: “It’s frightening to see your sonin a body bag. . . .When the coroner said it looked likehe’d inhaled butane, I thought, ‘This is something I seeon 20/20.’ . . .There is no pain like losing a child. . . .Somemornings I can’t get out of bed. . . .I talk to Johnsonsometimes. Sometimes I yell at him. Sometimes I say ‘Imiss you, baby.’”Healthy myelin helps speed messagessmoothly from cell to cell in your brain. Themessages cannot flow freely when myelinis damaged. This means that your muscleswon’t be able to obey your brain.AxonMyelin shheathAREAOF DETAILHealthymyelinorget the idea that if you can buy it at the grocery store it’s harmless. Inhalants can do serious and sometimespermanent damage to your brain, nerves, and body. Here’s just some of what research tells us.SignalDirectionof impulseInhalants can. . .• disrupt the flow of messages between brain cells by destroying myelin [see above].• actually shrink parts of the brain. Where brain tissuedisappears, brain cells have died. Effects may includedifficulties with learning, thinking, and remembering.• damage the lungs, kidneys, and liver.• damage bone marrow.• cause hearing loss.• impair vision.• cause limb spasms.• cause muscle weakness.• cause tremors and uncontrollable shaking.ReceivingneuronDendritesFROM SCHOLASTIC AND THE SCIENTISTS OF THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES 11
Page 1 and 2: STEPHEN KRONINGER(ILLUSTRATION); 5W
Page 3 and 4: STEPHEN KRONINGER(ILLUSTRATIONS 2);
Page 5 and 6: JAKUB MOSUR/AP WIDE WORLD PHOTOS(TO
Page 7 and 8: THC INVASIONThe relaxed feeling Alb
Page 9: Daniel Oerum, 17R ECSTASY ABUSER/IN
Page 13 and 14: © STEVE ALLEN/BRAND X/ALAMY(BOTTLE
Page 15 and 16: Heroin binds to opiate receptorson

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