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The peak age for inhalant abuse is thought to be about 14 to 15 years. Chronic use tends to be endemic in “…remote communities coincident with unemployment, poverty, substance abuse and dysfunctional families. It is noteworthy that inhalant abuse is epidemic in some remote communities, and virtually absent in others.”37 Chronic inhalant abuse can be associated with school failure, delinquency and an inability to achieve societal adjustment.38 Chronic abuse leads to central nervous system damage including dementia, cerebellar dysfunction, loss of cognitive and higher brain functions and gait disturbance. Computed tomography will show a loss of brain mass. Death can occur due to asphyxia, suffocation, dangerous behaviour, aspiration and sudden sniffing death syndrome.39 The hydrocarbon in the inhalants sensitizes the myocardium to the effects of adrenaline, and a startle reflex will cause a surge in this hormone which can lead to a fatal heart arrhythmia.
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