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20-03-2023, 01:54 PM
Catherine Schuster-Bruce Updated Mar 18, 2023, 5:00 PM
When Vito Oliveri first tried nitrous oxide in his twenties he didn't expect a legal drug that gives a quick high to temporarily paralyze him and his fiancée years later
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Nitrous oxide, also called "laughing gas" or "hippie crack," is used as a painkiller during labor and for whipping cream in catering. But it's grown in popularity as a recreational drug in the US, Australia, and Europe in recent years, with people inhaling it for a relaxed, giggly, euphoria that lasts, on average, one to two minutes.
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"Maybe once every five or six years, I'll see a patient who's had a stroke from taking cocaine. Yet, every week, I'm seeing this in my ward. So from my point of view, this is actually a bigger problem," Dr. David Nicholl, a consultant neurologist at Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust, UK, told Sky News on March 1.
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Nitrous oxide can paralyze people because it destroys nerve cells within the spinal cord by inactivating vitamin B12, which is essential for maintaining the lining of the nerves, Alistair Noyce, a consultant neurologist working in a London hospital in the UK, told Insider.
That nerve damage can also cause tingling and numbness of the affected body part, with the severity of symptoms depending on how extensive the damage is
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People can also lose their balance because signals that tell the brain where body parts are positioned don't get transmitted properly
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Users who develop symptoms like numbness, unexplained incontinence or problems with erections should stop taking it, immediately seek help, and tell a doctor that they use the drug because prompt treatment with vitamin B12 injections is "crucial," Noyce said.
"Some recover, some don't," he said.
Much better to read full article at: https://www.insider.com/nitrous-oxide-us...zed-2023-1
When Vito Oliveri first tried nitrous oxide in his twenties he didn't expect a legal drug that gives a quick high to temporarily paralyze him and his fiancée years later
......
Nitrous oxide, also called "laughing gas" or "hippie crack," is used as a painkiller during labor and for whipping cream in catering. But it's grown in popularity as a recreational drug in the US, Australia, and Europe in recent years, with people inhaling it for a relaxed, giggly, euphoria that lasts, on average, one to two minutes.
......
"Maybe once every five or six years, I'll see a patient who's had a stroke from taking cocaine. Yet, every week, I'm seeing this in my ward. So from my point of view, this is actually a bigger problem," Dr. David Nicholl, a consultant neurologist at Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust, UK, told Sky News on March 1.
......
Nitrous oxide can paralyze people because it destroys nerve cells within the spinal cord by inactivating vitamin B12, which is essential for maintaining the lining of the nerves, Alistair Noyce, a consultant neurologist working in a London hospital in the UK, told Insider.
That nerve damage can also cause tingling and numbness of the affected body part, with the severity of symptoms depending on how extensive the damage is
......
People can also lose their balance because signals that tell the brain where body parts are positioned don't get transmitted properly
......
Users who develop symptoms like numbness, unexplained incontinence or problems with erections should stop taking it, immediately seek help, and tell a doctor that they use the drug because prompt treatment with vitamin B12 injections is "crucial," Noyce said.
"Some recover, some don't," he said.
Much better to read full article at: https://www.insider.com/nitrous-oxide-us...zed-2023-1
