More People Are Inhaling Heroin, and It's Destroying Brain Tissue

(Gizmodo, July 9) More heroin users are inhaling the drug and it’s causing them irreversible brain damage and dementia, according to a recent report published in JAMA Neurology.

Heating heroin and inhaling it (referred to in the report as “Chasing the Dragon”) worries the researchers because this method is easier, has greater availability, and results in a more intense high compared to sniffing or snorting, according to the report.

“This is something that’s unrecognized by physicians—people don’t really think about it. And that’s a problem,” Ramos-Estebanez, also an assistant professor of neurology at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, told Gizmodo. “It’s something we can’t neglect anymore.” Read more.