Demi Lovato saved by Narcan after drug overdose
- 6 years ago
LOS ANGELES — Pop star Demi Lovato is in an L.A. hospital after reports say she had a little too much of an as-yet-undisclosed substance.
A source told US Weekly that the 25-year-old had been on an all-night bender with friends, and suffered an overdose at her Hollywood Hills home around noon on Tuesday.
There's been much speculation about what drug it was. TMZ initially reported heroin, while other sources said meth — right now, no one still knows for sure.
But whatever the former Disney princess took flooded and blocked receptors in her brain, resulting in the overdose triad: pinpoint pupils, dangerously slow breathing, and unconsciousness.
Luckily, one friend had Narcan on hand and used it to save the singer's life before paramedics whisked her off to the hospital.
Narcan is an emergency medication used to reverse the effects of an OD, and is given either as a nasal spray or via arm, thigh, or butt muscle injection. According to the U.S. Surgeon General's Office, it works by knocking the drugs out of the brain receptors, which then temporarily restores the body to its pre-OD state.
It's mostly effective, but sometimes doesn't work if administered too late or when a person has way too many drugs in his system.
And even if a person is saved by Narcan, getting high on narcotics so soon afterward could also be fatal.
In Demi's case, she's lucky she got treated when she did, and is now reportedly awake and in a stable condition.
A source told US Weekly that the 25-year-old had been on an all-night bender with friends, and suffered an overdose at her Hollywood Hills home around noon on Tuesday.
There's been much speculation about what drug it was. TMZ initially reported heroin, while other sources said meth — right now, no one still knows for sure.
But whatever the former Disney princess took flooded and blocked receptors in her brain, resulting in the overdose triad: pinpoint pupils, dangerously slow breathing, and unconsciousness.
Luckily, one friend had Narcan on hand and used it to save the singer's life before paramedics whisked her off to the hospital.
Narcan is an emergency medication used to reverse the effects of an OD, and is given either as a nasal spray or via arm, thigh, or butt muscle injection. According to the U.S. Surgeon General's Office, it works by knocking the drugs out of the brain receptors, which then temporarily restores the body to its pre-OD state.
It's mostly effective, but sometimes doesn't work if administered too late or when a person has way too many drugs in his system.
And even if a person is saved by Narcan, getting high on narcotics so soon afterward could also be fatal.
In Demi's case, she's lucky she got treated when she did, and is now reportedly awake and in a stable condition.