Poppers are not without risk … especially for the eyes! The new active ingredient is associated with an increase in retinal damage, according to a British study.
This transparent, yellowish, and very volatile liquid is popular with festive places. It must be said that with their euphoric and disinhibiting effects, poppers have something to thrill party-goers. But this psychoactive substance is not without risk, and British ophthalmologists recall it in the British Journal of Ophthalmology. It is associated with retinal damage in recurrent drug users.
A team from Sussex Eye Hospital in Brighton (United Kingdom) directly implicates the active principle of poppers : isopropyl nitrite, which replaced a carcinogenic product.
Black spots
The United Kingdom revised its legislation in 2016, banning all production and sale of psychoactive substances. With the exception of poppers, which do not act on the central nervous system. But isobutyl nitrite, so far used, is prohibited. The manufacturers then replace it with isopropyl nitrite, considered less dangerous. Wrongly. Because since this substitution, ophthalmologists have noticed an increase in visual acuity loss among users.
Here, doctors at Sussex Eye Hospital focused on the case of 12 men, aged 31 to 59, treated between 2013 and 2016. All were followers of poppers on a regular basis. One of them had even been taking it for over 20 years. His symptoms did not appear until after the change in legislation, he says. And these are not minor.
Most often, the use of poppers is followed by disturbances of central vision and black spots. These signs can last up to several days after inhaling the product. One participant even developed a central scotoma – meaning loss of vision in the center of the visual field. It appeared only after the use of products containing isopropyl nitrite.
A similar observation in France
The British find it simple: after chemical analysis of 8 different brands, 6 of them contain isopropyl nitrite. All are associated with reduced vision. This remains reversible, since most patients have seen their symptoms improve within months of stopping the medication. poppers.
In France, the finding is similar. Once again authorized for sale in 2013, the products also contain isopropyl nitrite. In an information point, the National Medicines Safety Agency (ANSM) reports that 883 cases of exposure were declared between 1999 and 2010. Among them, 34 concerned eye damage “resulting mainly in reduced visual acuity”.
Reassess poppers ?
The phenomenon is not ignored by users: on various forums are reported the risks of visual disturbances – including reduced acuity. The poppers also increase the internal pressure of the eye, they point out. But these risks are not assessed nationally. The authors of this study therefore argue in favor of a reassessment of these recreational drugs.
“While retinal damage may disappear with discontinuation of use, symptoms may persist, and the visual effects of chronic use of the new brands are not known,” they recall. As it stands, caution therefore seems in order.
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