Recreational use of Laughing Gas: What are the Health Risks?

The recreational use of nitrous oxide is a growing practice among young people. Nitrous oxide cartridges are easy to access and low cost. Generally inhaled, from steel bombs or balloons, Nitrous Oxide is today the 7th most popular drug in the world for its euphoric effects. We will present through a case report where psychiatric symptoms are significant, an overview of psychiatric complications, but also neurological and general of the recreational use of Nitrous Oxide. Indeed, this use, even recreational, can produce a series of neurological, psychiatric, hematological and respiratory symptoms. Its pathogenic mechanism remains largely unknown; there is no specific treatment apart from vitamin B12 supplementation. Therapeutic approaches are therefore based on motivational interviews and psychotherapies. Prevention campaigns among young people therefore seem necessary because they underestimate the dangers.