Burns, difficulty walking - sometimes to the point of needing a walker - and even heart problems: heavy consumption of nitrous oxide, or laughing gas, which is now widely used by young people, can lead to sometimes serious problems. The young man who confides in the TF1 cameras in the 20H video above can testify to this. What he saw as a game almost cost him dearly.
Laughing gas is the new drug of choice among teenagers and young adults. Inhaling it was known to be harmful to health. Now, doctors are warning of the irreversible after-effects associated with its use.
Burns, difficulty walking - sometimes to the point of needing a walker - and even heart problems: heavy consumption of nitrous oxide, or laughing gas, which is now widely used by young people, can lead to sometimes serious problems. The young man who confides in the TF1 cameras in the 20H video above can testify to this. What he saw as a game almost cost him dearly.
Then a high-school student, he used it for months, almost daily, until one day he felt a partial paralysis and started hallucinating. "At first, it made us laugh, until I really had a bar that went from the top of my left shoulder to the bottom of my right shoulder, and I said to myself that this must be really serious. I knew my body was there, but I was seeing this thing from the outside, and it was a horrible situation because I didn't really feel in control of what was happening anymore," he recounts. Around him, cases of severe complications are multiplying. "We knew someone who ended up totally paralyzed," he adds.
This balloon-inhaled gas, used medically as a painkiller or anesthetic, is highly addictive. Used regularly or in large doses, its effects are devastating. "It essentially affects the spinal cord, an area which is key to balance and sensitivity. That's why these patients mainly complain of balance and sensitivity problems. It also has a toxic effect on the nerves, so we see patients who have difficulty moving their feet and getting up. And sometimes, it even affects the myelin in the brain, with patients experiencing memory problems or hallucinations", explains Dr Thierry Gendre.
This neurologist at Henri Mondor Hospital in Créteil sees an average of one nitrous oxide poisoning patient a week, four times more than last year, and they're all very young. "They range in age from 18 to 35. Some patients will be handicapped as a result, and as use of this product is on the increase, we run the risk of having more and more young people consult us and suffer the after-effects of using this product," he warns.
The situation is even more alarming in the Nord department, the first to be affected by laughing gas poisoning. Between 3 and 4 people are hospitalized every week at Lille University Hospital. This prompted doctors and researchers to set up a specialized unit a few days ago. "We're observing new clinical consequences that we hadn't necessarily seen before, and we're trying to understand them so we can better prevent and treat them. For example, some cases of thrombosis have been described in patients using nitrous oxide. So today, we think there's a link between this consumption and certain clots forming in patients", says Guillaume Grzych, medical biologist.
Not considered a narcotic, nitrous oxide remains readily available in supermarkets and on the internet. Only sales to minors have been banned since May 2021.
Link: https: //www.tf1info.fr/sante/gaz-hilarant-protoxyde-d-azote-les-graves-risques-d-effets-sur-la-sante-2208303.html
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