Feb 02, 2018 Crack lung is a condition in which the lungs become damaged because of crack cocaine usage. It's very hard to treat, since. Dec 24, 1989 LEAD: Doctors report that heavy crack smoking appears to be causing a growing number of addicts to become critically ill with symptoms similar to those of. Riddle Garden English Patch there.

Lung, also known as crack lung syndrome, is a term doctors sometimes use to describe a collection of lung-related symptoms that frequently appear in people who use “crack” cocaine. This type of cocaine is directly inhaled into the lungs, where it can trigger inflammation, as well as a number of other problems that stem directly from this inflammation.

People with crack lung develop symptoms that strongly resemble those associated with the presence of pneumonia. In addition, some affected individuals actually do develop a severe, potentially life-threatening form of pneumonia as a consequence of a crack lung’s effects.

Background Information The lungs are the body’s center for oxygen exchange, as well as the removal of a waste gas called carbon dioxide. Both of these processes take place in hundreds of millions of tiny sacs known as alveoli, which sit at the end of branching passageways that extend from the bottom of the windpipe (trachea) throughout the lungs’ tissues.

The alveoli have permeable walls, and oxygen that enters from the lungs’ passageways exits through these walls and passes into the bloodstream through a network of super-thin blood vessels called capillaries. Oxygen-rich blood in these capillaries is then transported to the heart and distributed to the body through blood vessels called arteries. Oxygen-depleted blood, which contains abundant amounts of carbon dioxide waste, flows from the heart to the capillary network surrounding the alveoli. In this network, carbon dioxide gets sent outward through the alveoli and new supplies of oxygen flow into the bloodstream. Crack Cocaine Basics Crack cocaine is a rock- or nugget-like substance made by dissolving powdered cocaine (also known as cocaine hydrochloride) into water that contains sodium bicarbonate (baking soda).

Examiner Fiat Serial Podcast. This form of the drug gets its name because it makes a cracking or popping sound when subjected to heat during the smoking process. People typically use crack because it’s cheaper than powdered cocaine and also produces a rapid onset of the euphoric feelings classically associated with all forms of cocaine use. The “high” that comes from a single instance of crack smoking lasts only for a few minutes; for this reason, people who smoke the drug commonly take multiple “hits” over the course of a drug-taking session in an effort to extend their euphoric experience. Over time, this repeated use leaves the lungs chronically exposed to crack’s damaging effects.