A spike in patients with ‘life-altering’ nerve damage and paralysis has prompted doctors to warn of a ‘terrifying’ hippie crack epidemic in the United Kingdom.
In the past decade, nitrous oxide, also known as ‘nos’ or laughing gas, has become a popular recreational drug.
Users inhale the colorless gas through balloons or canisters, with industrial-sized units costing just £25 each.
This year, it has become commonplace during festivals, and the small silver canisters are frequently found strewn over town centers and parks.
As its popularity has surged, however, so have incidences of the spinal cord and nerve injury, including paralysis, according to medical professionals.
Dr. Mark Ellul, a specialist registrar in neurology in Liverpool, asserts that children consuming the drug are presenting to hospitals with severe and long-lasting injuries.
Nos can deprive the body of a vital vitamin and oxygen, resulting in irreversible nerve damage and asphyxia.
The number of young people in England and Wales who use the substance has increased by 50 percent over the past decade, according to official statistics.
Comparatively, only six percent of the millennial generation, who were 16 to 24 years old a decade ago, acknowledged using the drug, compared to nine percent of Gen Z.
Since 2010, at least 45 people have died after taking the medicine, and many more have been hospitalized.
It follows the death of a 16-year-old asthmatic girl who inhaled nitrous oxide at a home party in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire. Her family has speculated that laughing gas was the cause of her death, although the specific reason for her demise has not been disclosed.
Dr. Nikos Evangelou, a neurologist at Nottingham University Hospital, tweeted that nitric oxide is responsible for an “epidemic” of spinal cord and nerve injury.
“It’s terrifying to watch young folks paralyzed from laughing gas,” he remarked.
Dr. Evangelou stated that the situation was “almost unheard of” a year ago, but that doctors now encounter cases regularly.
Dr. David Nicholl, a consultant neurologist at University Hospital in Birmingham, expressed worry on TikTok regarding the ‘epidemic’
This material is hazardous. ‘Seven years ago, this was a neurological rarity, and even a few years ago, I was seeing cases once or twice a month, but now I see them every week,’ he said.
Dr. Nicholl recommended physicians ask young patients with unexplained neurological symptoms if they use nitrous oxide and where they obtain it so that suppliers can be identified.
He argued that the minimum age for purchasing nitrous oxide canisters, which now cost only £25 compared to £50 a year ago, should be raised to 25.
Dr. Ellul reported that his team currently treats one patient every few weeks.
He stated, “The majority are adolescents, and many were ignorant that the substance may be hazardous.”
In certain instances, the effects might be severe and long-lasting.
Images from the Notting Hill carnival over the weekend depict hundreds of empty cans littering the streets.
Experts warn that partygoers are increasingly turning to enormous industrial-sized tubes of nitrous oxide that contain eighty times the typical amount of the gas.
The odorless gas can be inhaled straight from a pressurized canister or through filled balloons.
The average duration of the ‘high’, which causes users to feel dizzy, relaxed, and giddy, is one to two minutes.
Inhaling extremely concentrated forms of the gas might cause users to faint or choke owing to a lack of oxygen to the brain if they consume too much.
Vitamin B12 deficiency and anemia can be caused by heavy and frequent consumption.
B12 is needed for the development of myelin, the fatty sheath surrounding nerves.
Myelin deficiency can cause nerve damage, resulting in painful tingling and numbness in the fingers and toes, which makes walking difficult, as well as spinal cord damage.
Large canisters are not prohibited and are utilized in the catering business as a propellant for whipped cream. Additionally, the gas is used for anesthesia.
However, it is illegal to sell it to minors if there is a danger they would inhale it.
One in eleven 16- to 24-year-olds reported using nitrous oxide in the year leading up to March 2020, compared to one in sixteen in the year leading up to March 2013.
The containers are widely available online and on social media, and last weekend, vendors were observed selling inflated balloons for £10 at the Electric City festival in Gunnersbury Park, West London.
Local officers in Southgate, north London, have routinely discovered big mounds of oversized canisters in public locations.
Fast Gas, an Amsterdam-based company that produced many of the cylinders seen at Notting Hill Carnival, claims that their goods are utilized in restaurants to generate whipped cream.
However, their website strongly suggests that they are also intended for recreational use, with a section stating: ‘We value your privacy so much that we do not include logos on the packaging.
So that no one can determine where an order is placed. It is delivered anonymously to your doorstep, or if you order for a friend, to his as well. #just asking for a friend!’
An assessment commissioned by the government is currently examining if more needs to be done to reduce the usage of larger canisters.
Kerri Anne was left largely paralyzed after ingesting an excessive number of tiny canisters containing nitrous oxide.
She stated that she would consume 600 canisters every week and be unable to eat, drink, walk, or use her hands; she would also sleep 12 hours per day.
Her excessive and frequent drug usage rendered her legs numb and placed her under her father’s daily care.
She continued, “At the moment, I cannot do anything for myself.” I can’t just get up and leave the house, which is why I have my father. I need to use the toilet. He practically does everything for me.
A drug dealer stated that it was “a walk in the park” to find consumers interested in purchasing the larger canisters on social media.
“It’s hazardous. I don’t believe people should do it, but as long as they do, I’ll sell it,’ stated the unidentified dealer.
In June, a 16-year-old teenager nearly died after laughing gas at the Parklife festival in Manchester’s Heaton Park caused his lung to explode.
Alex Littler, from Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, was sent to the hospital after complaining of a swelled neck, shortness of breath, and a “popping bubble wrap” sensation in his chest.
The year 11 youngster admitted to physicians that he had consumed nitrous oxide on June 11 and 12 while attending the festival.
It was determined that he had a ruptured and leaky lung and that he was fortunate to be alive.
Today, it was reported that a 16-year-old girl in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, died after inhaling nitrous oxide at a house party.
Asthmatic Kayleigh Burns fainted immediately after being filmed inhaling laughing gas. The precise cause of Kayleigh’s death has not been disclosed, but her family suspects laughing gas.
