Sudden sniffing death

Amyl nitrite, as with other inhalants, have the potential to cause sudden sniffing death (SSD) syndrome. The condition is brought on by unexpected disturbances in the heart s rhythm, causing heart failure and death. SSD syndrome can result when a user deeply inhales a chemical for its intoxicating effect. This causes a decrease in available oxygen to the body. If the user becomes startled or engages in sudden physical activity, the flow of adrenaline increases from the brain to the heart, inducing cardiac arrest. Death occurs within minutes. 

SUDDEN SNIFFING DEATH (SSD) SYNDROME Fatal cardiac arrest that results, under certain conditions, after someone deeply inhales a volatile chemical for its intoxicating effects. Death occurs within minutes. 

Overdose can lead to a fast, irregular heartbeat, which can be fatal—a syndrome called sudden sniffing death. 

Sudden sniffing deaths have occurred in many first-time users of inhalants, highlighting the dangers of trying these drugs. Sniffing chemicals in solvents and aerosol inhalants depresses the central nervous system and causes the heart to beat slowly and irregularly. On top of this, users may have a rush of the... 

Death— sudden sniffing deaths, suicide, cardiac arrest, suffocation, choking, respiratory arrest, injuries... 

Sudden sniffing deaths are responsible for more than half of the deaths due to inhalant abuse. This has been compared to a form of Russian roulette by Harvey Weiss, director of the National Inhalant Prevention Coalition, in which a user may die the first time they sniff, or the tenth time, or the hundredth time. If a sniffer has used inhalants before without consequence, that does not mean she does not have a chance of experiencing a cardiac arrhythmia. Sudden sniffing deaths are mostly associated with aerosols, butane, toluene, and propane. 

Bass M 1970 Sudden sniffing death. Journal of the American Medical Association 212 2075. 

The sex differences found in these and other population-based studies of solvent abuse are not nearly as marked as those found in studies of fatalities or groups of solvent abusers attending clinics. For example, 88% of Bass (1970) sudden sniffing deaths were male, and in Anderson et al s (1985) national study of fatalities due to solvent abuse, males accounted for 95% of the sample. In Watson s (1978) series of consecutive referrals to a special clinic for solvent abusers in Glasgow 92% were male. 

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