The soccer player of Tottenham Yves Bissouma recently caused a stir for publishing a video in which you resumes while inhaling some nitrous oxide Of nitrogen from a balloonwhich in the UK is crime. This gas, also known as gas exhilaratingis commonly used in the medical and food fields for its anesthetic, analgesic and anxiolytic properties. However, in recent years, its use for recreational purposes has increasedas it causes feelings of euphoria and relaxation. This improper use carries serious risks for the Healthwhich is why different Villageslike the United Kingdomthey have some prohibited there sale And the use to scope recreational. Nitrous oxide is also known as “Joker gas”, a reference to the famous Batman character, for its hilarious and potentially dangerous effect. Let’s look at its chemical composition, how it acts on the human body and how it can have hilarious effects.
What is laughing gas, chemical composition and uses
The nitrous oxide (or nitrous oxide, N2O), for friends “laughing gas” is a colorless gas, with a sweetish smell and non-flammable, even if it can act as an oxidizer if combined with oxygen. Discovered in 1772is used for a wide range of industrial processes, commercial (it is in fact used as a propellant gas in whipped cream spray cans) and medical-scientific, to the point of being listed by the World Health Organization as an essential medicine. Nitrous oxide is also the famous NOS used to enhance engine performance.
Compared to other inhaled anesthetics, it does not cause respiratory depression, but alone is not powerful enough to induce sedation. For this reason it is associated with oxygen and used as anesthetic and analgesic during childbirth, Dental interventions and surgical and emergency medicine.
How Laughing Gas Works
Nitrous oxide has anaesthetic, analgesic and anxiolyticbut it acts with complex and not entirely clear mechanisms. We know that it acts on the Central Nervous System, both at the cerebral and spinal level and that it is involved in mechanisms that regulate the perception of pain and anxietyemotions, behavior and the reward circuitry, from which abuse arises.
Most of the analgesic and anesthetic effects appear to be related to the inhibition of particular receptors (N-methyl-D-aspartate, NMDA receptors) of the neurotransmitter glutamate: it is these receptors that convey the sensations of euphoria and dissociation caused by inhaling the gas.
The gas also causes the release of endorphinsleading to the activation of the opioid system and noradrenaline, contributing to the analgesic effect and pain reduction. As an anxiolytic, appears to act like benzodiazepinesbinding to gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptors, which has a relaxing action.
Recreational Use of Laughing Gas: The Effects and Risks
The gas already acts after 10-30 seconds from inhalation, but its effect wears off in maximum 5 minutes. As we said, both cause euphoriaThat calm And relaxationaccompanied by distortion of reality described as a state dreamy or psychedelic.
According to the Report on recreational use of nitrous oxide by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), for recreational use, 100,000 litres of nitrous oxide are emptied into the balloons and then inhale 1 to 3 cartridges containing approximately 8 g of gas each. There are also those who inhale it directly from the spray cans Of cream spray, exposing himself to risk Of burns from Freddo: the nitrous oxide in these products is pressurized and comes out at a temperature of -40 to -55°Cburning in seconds lip, throat and in some cases strings vowels And lungs!
The main risks are strictly connected to its pharmacological action. First of all, some effects of disorientation and dissociation are given by thehypoxia: the pure inhaled gas dilutes the oxygen in the lungsin some cases to the point of replacing it. Acute use causes nausealoss of coordination And vomit.
With chronic or high-dose use the risks range from loss Of knowledgeat hallucinationsfrom psychotic episodes to anemia to rare cases of embolism and thrombosis. Repeated hypoxia from chronic use reduces the oxygen reaching the brain, causing brain damage with reduction of cognitive abilities, concentration and memory.
Nitrous oxide is neurotoxic, with a mechanism that seems to involve the vitamin B12. Nitrous oxide in fact oxidizes the cobalt in vitamin B12, disabling it irreversibly, and being an essential vitamin, our body does not have mechanisms to produce it, so all the processes in which it is fundamental are blocked.
The most serious consequences of vitamin B12 inactivation are the myeloneuropathy (or myelopathy), a degeneration or inflammation of the spinal cord and the paresthesia. Described as a sensation of numb, uncoordinated legs, it is caused by damage to the peripheral neurons that carry sensory signals from the limbs to the brain, and the neurons that control muscles and movement, making it difficult to walk and leading to complete paralysis of the legs (paraplegia).
If treated promptly, some of these effects are partially reversible, but still leave slight sensory dysfunction.
