Since 2020, eleven people in Sweden have died due to nitrous oxide. Last year alone, five nitrous oxide-related deaths were reported. This is shown by new figures from the Swedish Medical Examiner’s Office, RMV, which P1 Documentary brought out.
– There are more of these deaths than there have been before, percentage-wise it is quite a large increase, says Carl Söderberg, chief physician at RMV, to TV4 Nyheterna.
In most of the deaths, the nitrous oxide tube has been connected to a plastic bag or a face mask, according to Carl Söderberg.
– The acute problem with nitrous oxide is that you inhale something that is not oxygen. If it’s a closed space such as a plastic bag, the problem is that you don’t get oxygen, which causes you to lose consciousness, he says.
An increase in the use of nitrous oxide is also noticeable in emergency departments and within addiction treatment. This year alone, the number is up to over 400 people who have been injured by nitrous oxide, according to the radio. The death toll figures for this year have not yet been compiled.
“He will not survive if he continues”
P1 Dokumentär has spoken to “Maria”, whose son became addicted to nitrous oxide. Over the course of a weekend, he could consume several two-kilogram tubes.
– He had taken a lot of gas and I couldn’t get him to stop. He will not survive if he continues, she says in the P1 documentary Lustgasboomen.
But the son eventually received compulsory care according to LVU. And it may have saved his life.
Nitrous oxide, which destroys vitamin B12, which is needed to form new cells in the brain and nervous system, can cause nerve damage, anxiety and, in the worst case, lead to death.
Strong increase in calls to the Poison Information Centre
In recent years, the Poison Information Center has also noticed a sharp increase in calls about nitrous oxide, reports P1 Dokumentär.
– What this can also cause is severe clots in the blood vessels. We have had some cases that could very well have died. We have had a few cases of people who have had severe frostbite down the trachea or esophagus where it could have gone very badly but has turned out well. And it is more the acute use, says Johanna Grass, chief physician at the Poison Information Center, to the radio.
Maria’s son, who today no longer abuses nitrous oxide, survived without permanent damage.
– I just feel disgust for this gas. I hate nitrous oxide, she says.