For many of you, this will be a difficult read.
A recent study from the British Journal of Ophthalmology suggests the inhalants commonly known as “poppers” could cause permanent damage to the retinas of some users.
Often sold under the guise of “nail polish remover” or “video head cleaner,” the inhalant has long been popular with gay men in the bedroom and on the dance floor.
Related: “Sudden Sniffing Death” Is Now A Thing Thanks To The New Gay Poppers
As Popular Science reports, there have been several “sudden cases of vision loss after patients had inhaled poppers.”
Researchers found 30 published cases of retinal damage suspected to be related to poppers, as outlined in a letter to The New England Journal of Medicine in 2010.
While the drug has been popular for decades, a switch-up in the way it’s manufactured might point to why this is now happening.
Many brands were using isobutlyl nitrite as an ingredient until 2006, when it was “reclassified as a cancer-causing agent.” The majority of poppers on the market are now made with isopropyl nitrite.
Related: U.K. Bans The Sale Of Poppers, “Legal High” Seekers Look Elsewhere
The most recent study focuses specifically on 12 cases of men who were reporting some sort of vision trouble: blurriness or blind spots that developed shortly after inhaling poppers.
Researchers were able to study samples of each brand the men had used, and diagnostic tests suggested it was the swapping out of isobutyl nitrate that could be to blame.
Now, researchers believe isopropyl nitrite causes damage to the fovea, which is a cluster of cones in the retina, primarily responsible for central vision. Some men recovered from the damage but some didn’t, and it’s not immediately clear whether that had to do with stopping all use of the drug.
Related: Five Hospitalized After Drinking Poppers. That’s Right, Drinking Poppers.
The authors wrote in the study that:
“The pathological mechanism of popper toxicity remains to be determined, and there is no obvious reason why isopropyl nitrite should be more toxic than isobutyl nitrite.”
Researchers are also mystified why some patients only reported symptoms in one eye, and why the damage appears similar to that caused by bright light exposure.
In the end, more work needs to be done before doctors can tell their patients whether any pattern of use, or particular brand, is ultimately safe on the eyes.
h/t: Towleroad
Brian S
Newsflash from 1975: poppers are bad for you.
Caine
Sorry this is BS. More fear mongering – – – and big surprise because didn’t the UK government recently ban poppers and make them illegal?
Sounds like a weak justification to support a ridiculous and stupid governmental decision.
scotto
No they didn’t – there was a rather heavy-handed and poorly drafted law which made “psychoactive substances” illegal in a bid to capture all the various “legal highs” which did not fall under previous drug control legislation. After a bit of fuss including a gay Member of Parliament saying he used them, it was decided they weren’t actually psychoactive and therefore not covered by this, so still legal.
ChrisK
Hmm..just gives me a good headache.
1898
Who under the age of 50 still uses poppers? Are we sure the problem isn’t just age-related cataracts or glaucoma?
Soulforce1
1898, what rock do you live under? If you go out clubbing, go to sex clubs, or anywhere else in the gay community for that matter, you see people of all ages still using poppers. My observations indicate that they are mostly used for sex, but some people still use them on the dance floor and in other nonsexual situations. I make no judgments about their usage. I note only that poppers are simply one drug among many, and they are used much more widely than people evidently are aware.
John
I wasn’t aware people still used it either.
Chris
And here I thought that it was masturbation that makes you go blind.
Dave in Northridge
And this is why you should only buy poppers which contain amyl or phenyl nitrite. Neither of the iso-s.
gaym50ish
Absolutely. The original, amyl nitirite, was the best and probably the safest. Since that was banned and they started introducing the substitutes, I have never used the stuff. Can you still buy amyl?
Heywood Jablowme
Where can you get it nowadays? Yeah, it was the best and apparently much more safe than this modern stuff.
nitejonboy
Drugs are bad, Mmkay ? You shouldn’t do drugs, Mmkay ? If you do, you deserve what you get, mmkay ?
calpoidog
have always hated the stuff…couldn’t stand the smell on the dance floor. The only thing that belongs in a person’s lungs is clean air.
PT
Yeah. When I was 8 I was smart enough to know that sniffing airplane model glue probably wasn’t good for you. Same concept. Some people aren’t smart enough at 48. That said, people do what they do. Is it any worse than shots? Who knows.