Laughing Gas Makes You Sick

Surprisingly enough, there's no reason for laughing at all. The laughing gas or nitrous oxide, employed as an anesthetic for over 200 years in childbirth and emergency medicine can enhance pneumonia, fever and wound infections, as found by an Australian survey. The chemical's name comes from the euphoric sensation felt when inhaling it.

Even if this gas is regarded as relatively safe by doctors, a spokesman for the Royal College of Anesthetists said the new research "will undoubtedly diminish" its use. Laughing gas has been employed since the late 18th century, being a supplement in a high concentration of the 6m anesthetics administered to patients in the UK annually.

Some of its side effects are well known, like nausea and vomiting, but the Australian study has revealed much more severe issues.

Paul Myles at the Alfred hospital in Melbourne gathered information on about 2,000 patients in hospitals from UK, Australia and Asia who received anesthetic containing or not the nitrous oxide. The control group received a mix of about 80% oxygen plus injected or breathable anesthetic.

Others received 70% nitrous oxide as a baseline anesthetic plus other chemicals to put them under and keep them unconscious. Those subjects who did not receive nitrous oxide were 50% less vulnerable to pneumonia and 20-30% less prone to fever or wound infections following surgery. The data also showed that they had less heart problems and lower death rate following surgery, but this gap was not statistically significant, that's why the researchers are focusing on this issue in a larger trial of about 7,000 subjects.

"The Australian study suggests that there may be benefits in eliminating the use of nitrous oxide in patients having major surgery," said Keith Myerson, a member of the Royal College of Anesthetists' council.

"However, it is not clear from the study whether or not the benefits were due to the elimination of nitrous oxide or the use of high concentrations of oxygen. With the publication of this article, the use of nitrous oxide will undoubtedly diminish."

Nitrous oxide's harmful effects could be due to the fact that it can interfere with DNA synthesis in cells by impairing the metabolism of vitamin B12 and folic acid (vitamin B9). This disturbs wound healing and the activity of the bone marrow (which produces the immune cells) and central nervous system.