What is laughter gas used for in medical purposes? & bull; hello healthy

What is laughter gas?

Unlike tear gas which can be used as a weapon to sting the eyes and reduce the ability to see for a moment, laughter gas is a type of medicine used to sedate a patient indirectly. Laughter gas, or nitrous oxide, is a gas used for medical purposes that aims to make patients comfortable and relaxed during medical procedures.

Laughter gas or in medical language is called sedative gas, contains nitrous oxide which causes a person to be calm and comfortable when inhaling the gas. Nitrous oxide is often used by dentists or other medical professionals to make patients feel relaxed, calm, and comfortable when undergoing medical procedures or when patients experience unbearable pain.

In fact, laughter is just an indirect side effect of nitrous oxide. Patients who are given this gas usually also experience mild hallucinations, at the same time they feel relaxed, so that often the effect that arises from these hallucinations is laughter, although this side effect does not happen to everyone.

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What is the function of laughing gas?

Laughter gas is actually used for anesthesia or anesthesia, which is given to patients when performing medical procedures, either as a general anesthetic, or a mixture with other anesthetic drugs. In fact, for anesthetic measures, nitrous oxide is classified as a weak anesthetic. Therefore, for moderate to large medical procedures, laughter gas is only used as a mixture of other anesthetic drugs. Meanwhile, in dentistry, this gas is sufficient to sedate a patient in any mild to moderate medical procedure, and is used on both pediatric and adult patients.

In addition, laughter gas is also often used for medical procedures that require a short period of time, such as colonoscopy, sigmoidoscopy, patients in ambulances, and cancer patients who experience chronic pain due to their illness.

How to use this nitrous oxide?

Like gas in general, laughter gas will work if inhaled by someone. In medical procedures, nitrous oxide is often mixed with oxygen to prevent the patient from being deprived of oxygen while inhaling this gas. Patients are usually given a complete mask with a tube connected to the nitrous oxide gas cylinder. This anesthetic is only used for a short time, because if it is inhaled for a long time it will cause various health problems.

The use of laughing gas is prone to abuse because of its pleasure-inducing effect. Thus, the use of laughing gas must be supervised by skilled medical personnel, because it requires a separate tool used to inhale the gas. If the gas is inhaled directly from the tube, it will cause inflammation of the nose, throat and mouth because the gas that is inhaled has a very cold temperature. In addition, cylinders made of nitrous oxide gas are prone to explosion, so use without supervision creates the risk of cold burns due to a possible cylinder explosion.

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What is the effect of inhaling laughter gas?

Until now, there are no standard rules governing the dose of laughter gas that is allowed to be inhaled by a patient. But still, every drug use there must be side effects that may arise from its use. The impact of inhaling nitrous oxide on each person varies, depending on the following:

The amount and dose of gas inhaled
Weight and height of each patient
Take other drugs that may cause drug interactions with laughter gas.

After the patient inhales the laughing gas, the effects will appear in a matter of minutes and the effects are:

A sense of euphoria
The body becomes numb
A sense of comfort and calm
Suddenly feel like laughing and can't control it
Blurred vision
Confusion
Dizziness and sensitivity to light
Feeling tired and weak than usual
Sweating

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What would happen if someone overdosed on laughter gas?

The use of nitrous oxide gas in large quantities can cause the following:

Decrease in blood pressure
Fainting
Heart attack

The use of this gas should not be used for a long time, because it risks causing various conditions such as:

Memory loss
Decreased levels of vitamin B12 in the body can cause mental disorders as well as problems with the nervous system
Ringing in the ears
Numbness in the feet and hands
Giving birth to a child with disabilities, if used during pregnancy
Decreased immune system
Depression
Reproductive system disorders
Mental disorders

In addition, inhaling nitrous oxide for too long - without mixing it with oxygen - will also result in the body being deprived of oxygen and the body becomes hypoxic. When the body experiences hypoxia, various body functions will be disrupted, especially the function of the nervous system.

Who shouldn't use laughter gas?

In general, nitrous oxide is a gas that is safe to use for all ages and groups. However, there are some conditions experienced by patients that make them unable to inhale laughter gas because it will make the situation worse, such as in patients with respiratory problems. Meanwhile, patients who experience diseases such as stroke, hypertension, and several other heart diseases need special attention and more if they use laughter gas. The use of laughter gas is also avoided for pregnant women because it will have an impact on the development of the fetus.