{"id":3409,"date":"2022-11-22T16:59:54","date_gmt":"2022-11-22T05:59:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/nangs-nos-nitro-the-joke-maybe-on-you\/"},"modified":"2022-11-22T16:59:54","modified_gmt":"2022-11-22T05:59:54","slug":"nangs-nos-nitro-the-joke-maybe-on-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/nangs-nos-nitro-the-joke-maybe-on-you\/","title":{"rendered":"Nangs, NOS, Nitro \u2013 The Joke Maybe on You!"},"content":{"rendered":"

 While it’s a drug that’s widely considered as \u2018safe\u2019, nitrous oxide can cause serious harm.<\/b><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

\"nangs\"Medical professionals are calling for tighter restrictions on the sale of nitrous oxide gas cartridges, colloquially known as \u2018nangs\u2019, due to potentially serious harm for users including lasting neurological damage. Nitrous oxide or \u2018laughing gas\u2019 is normally used by dentists and medical professionals to provide sedation and pain relief to patients undergoing minor procedures. It\u2019s also a food additive, used to aerate whipped cream, and sold in gas cartridges online and in convenience stores.<\/p>\n

An increasing number of Australians are also using nitrous oxide recreationally, inhaling the gas to produce a fleeting feeling of euphoria and excitement. Many people who use the drug consider it to be relatively harmless, but according to experts from the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC)<\/a> at UNSW Sydney<\/a>, this is far from the case.<\/p>\n

\u2018Nangs\u2019 are increasingly popular \u2013<\/b> Among people who regularly use ecstasy and\/or other illicit stimulants, surveyed by NDARC as part of the Ecstasy and Related Drugs Reporting System (EDRS)<\/a>, nitrous oxide use has jumped in recent years. From 2003 to 2015, approximately one-quarter of the group reported nitrous oxide use in the past six months. This proportion doubled to 50 per cent in 2018 and has remained at a similar level since. The frequency and quantity of nitrous oxide use among these participants has remained relatively low and stable over time.
Less is known about nitrous oxide use in the general population, but this also appears to be increasing over time. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW)<\/a> reported in their National Drug Strategy Household Survey<\/a> that past year use of inhalants, which included nitrous oxide, increased from 0.4 per cent of participants in 2001, to 1.7 per cent in 2019.<\/p>\n

Acute dangers and long-term neurological effects \u2013<\/b> With increased use of nitrous oxide among some groups, there have been increased reports of harm. For example, in a recent study<\/a> of 60 emergency departments across New South Wales, presentations related to nitrous oxide use have increased from less than 10 in 2012 to more than 60 in 2018.
According to Professor Shane Darke<\/a> from NDARC, recreational nitrous oxide use has the potential for harmful effects in the short and longer term.
\u201cIf you\u2019re in a medical situation and you\u2019re being given nitrous oxide\u2026 it\u2019s mixed with oxygen. These people aren\u2019t doing that. What they\u2019re doing is covering their faces and inhaling pure gas,\u201d Professor Darke said.
\u201cNow the problem with that is there\u2019s no oxygen. You run the risk of asphyxia.\u201d
While using nitrous oxide, people are also at risk of entering a delirious state, according to Professor Darke. \u201cThey can be a risk to themselves and others. There have been spontaneous suicides and accidents.\u201d
Emergency physicians have also started noticing people presenting with jerking and odd movements after using nitrous oxide. That\u2019s not just an unsteady gait due to intoxication \u2013 rather, a sign of significant nerve damage.
\u201c[Nitrous oxide] interferes with the absorption of Vitamin B12. This leads to neurological damage and eventually in severe cases, spinal degeneration,\u201d Professor Darke said. \u201cIn an acute case you might be able to reverse that with infusions of B12. But in chronic cases it\u2019s irreversible.\u201d
It\u2019s important to note people with neurological symptoms have been heavy users of nitrous oxide, inhaling the gas every day for months and consuming hundreds of canisters at a time. More research is needed to understand the effects of light to moderate use, which may still carry risk of nerve damage.
For complete article go to Nitrous oxide \u2013 not a laughing matter | UNSW Newsroom<\/a><\/p>\n

Also See <\/b><\/a>
<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

 While it’s a drug that’s widely considered as \u2018safe\u2019, nitrous oxide can cause serious harm. Medical professionals are calling for tighter restrictions on the sale of nitrous oxide gas cartridges, colloquially known as \u2018nangs\u2019, due to potentially serious harm for users including lasting neurological damage. Nitrous oxide or \u2018laughing gas\u2019 is normally used by dentists and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1258,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-isabella-list-updates"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3409","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3409"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3409\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}