Doctors have sounded the alarm over a rise in cases of nerve damage linked to the use of nitrous oxide. In recent years, nitrous oxide – commonly known as “nos” – has become a hugely popular recreatio...
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The Guardian
2022-08-30T05:16:57Z
Doctors have sounded the alarm over a rise in cases of nerve damage linked to the use of nitrous oxide.
Experts say that as use of the drug has risen, so too have cases of spinal cord and nerve damage, including paralysis.
“There is no doubt that we have seen an increase of cases, as this was almost unknown last year and now [we] see cases weekly,” said Dr Nikos Evangelou, an academic neurologist at the University of Nottingham.
“We’re seeing dozens of young people coming into hospital because they’re off their legs; some of them have life-changing neurological injuries,” he said.
Dr Mark Ellul, a specialist registrar in neurology based in Liverpool, said cases of nerve damage from nitrous oxide use were frequent. “I’d say as a unit we probably see a case every few weeks,” he said. “Most are young people, and many were previously unaware that the substance could be harmful. In some cases the effects can be quite severe and long-lasting.”
“When I did a retrospective analysis of all patients admitted in 10 years prior to April 2020, not a single patient had been diagnosed with neurological complications due to nitrous oxide abuse at our hospital,” said the lead author, Maximilian Einsiedler.
However, there are concerns that large canisters of the gas are becoming more common, with giant containers 80 times the size of whippits found in the streets of London after the Notting Hill carnival this weekend.
Harry Sumnall, a professor in substance use at Liverpool John Moores University, said there was a lack of hard data on the prevalence of serious problems resulting from nitrous oxide use in the UK.
While Sumnall said that even a relatively small rise in cases from a low baseline was of concern to neurologists, he said the people most at risk of significant complications were those exposed to high quantities of the gas.
“Just to put it into perspective, [there are] more than 600,000 users in the UK, and most people if they are using it are going to be using it a few times a year, at really low levels of risk,” he said.
