Updated 18.23 | Published 17.49
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The Poisons Information Center sees no reduction in the harmful use of nitrous oxide.
It is mainly young adults who inhale the gas for pleasure.
The number of cases of nerve damage as a result of nitrous oxide is increasing. Fully healthy young people can get dementia-like symptoms and urinate.
The trend of using nitrous oxide thus seems to be continuing and the information campaigns from the Poison Information Center (GIC) do not seem to be working.
This is evident when they present their annual report with data for 2023.
Many calls are from healthcare and are about people who have serious injuries such as nerve damage and blood clots after repeated use of nitrous oxide.
Above all, it concerns people who are between 20 and 30 years old, but also younger.
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full screen The poison information continues to receive many calls about nitrous oxide poisoning. Archive image. Photo: Johan Nilsson/TT
According to a report from the Central Association for Alcohol and Narcotics Information (CAN), 14 percent of high school sophomores have tried nitrous oxide at some point. Among the ninth graders, the percentage is around 5 percent.
Peeing themselves
If you take nitrous oxide repeatedly for the purpose of intoxication, it knocks out vitamin B12 in the body. It causes nerve damage.
You can, for example, become fumbled, get numbness and urinate. You may also find it difficult to stand and walk.
FACT Risks with nitrous oxide
Repeated use destroys vitamin B12 in the body, which can cause damage to the nervous system. Symptoms of this are loss of sensation, numbness and reduced strength in the fingers, hands, arms and legs, as well as the ability to urinate. You may find it difficult to stand and walk. Other symptoms are anxiety, psychosis and dementia-like symptoms. It also increases the risk of blood clots in the lungs and brain.
Concentrated nitrous oxide is very cold right out of the tube – it can be close to 100 degrees below zero and cause frostbite in the mouth, esophagus and airways.
When you inhale pure nitrous oxide, you ingest no oxygen. Then you may feel dizzy or pass out briefly.
Deaths from nitrous oxide use are very rare, but do occur.
(TT)
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Other symptoms are anxiety, psychosis and dementia-like symptoms. It also increases the risk of blood clots in the lungs and brain. The nerve damage can go back if you completely stop abusing nitrous oxide, but some damage can be lifelong.
– If you already have low levels of vitamin B12 before, if you are, for example, a vegan, the risks are even higher for nerve damage, says Johanna Nordmark Grass, medical director at the Poisons Information Centre, and points out that it does not help to take extra B vitamins to be sure.
Not drug classified
Nitrous oxide is not classified as a narcotic in Sweden and it is not illegal to sell the gas for private use.
The government has tasked several authorities with informing about the risks of nitrous oxide and also wants to investigate an age limit.
A total of 598 questions about nitrous oxide were received by GIC.
FACTS Nitrous gas
Nitrous oxide is used as pain relief in healthcare, for example during childbirth.
Non-medical nitrous oxide is used as propellant, mainly in cream siphons. It has also become common to use in a party context, mainly among younger people.
The gas can be purchased in small silver colored cartridges or large tubes and can be inhaled directly from the cartridge/tube or by filling a balloon with the gas and then inhaling from the balloon.
The nitrous oxide then gives a rush of 1–2 minutes that creates relaxation and giggling. It can also provide pain relief and hallucinations.
When nitrous oxide is inhaled directly from gas tubes or via balloons, you ingest concentrated gas. This is different from the gas used in healthcare, which is mixed with oxygen and given by trained healthcare professionals who control the amount and strength.
(Source: Region Stockholm)
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