“It goes so far as to no longer be able to walk”

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Find out more, to raise awareness, and stem a real scourge. This is the challenge of healthcare professionals facing the consumption of nitrous oxideknown as “laughing gas”, with effects as rapid as they are harmful to health. In Hauts-de-France, doctors address the problem : fin November 2024the URPS, Regional Union of Health Professionals – Liberal Doctors, launched with the assistance of the ARS, Regional Health Agency, a questionnaire asked by general practitioners to their patients. The objective: to better understand who the consumers are and what their habits are, to better target awareness campaigns.

“Do you know this object?” »

You may be one of the first people interviewed. Since the end of November 2024, a questionnaire has been running in private doctors' offices in the region. “Do you know this object?” » A carboy is placed on the table. It is an empty bottle, containing nitrous oxide at the base. You may not know it in this form, but rather as cartridges for whipped cream siphons. “There is a whole market that has developed around the 'trend', so to speak,” comments Dr François Loez, general practitioner in Lomme and elected URPS. These large bottles – customizable – are designed for consumption habits. “Some people understood that there was a market to develop,” explains the doctor.

Age, profession, place of residence, religious denomination… “We have very little information on consumers and their habits, only hypotheses,” confides Dr François Loez.

The objective of this questionnaire is to collect more and more data.

“We have data following stays in the emergency room, or those collected in the prison environment mainly, but it remains very limited,” specifies Dr Loez.

120 serious cases – known – in 2023 in the region

In parallel with the URPS, which regularly communicates with doctors who work on the subject, including Dr Guillaume Grzych from Lille University Hospital, the ARS is carrying out awareness campaigns. The one launched in 2023 on social networks in particular, “the proto is too risky to laugh about”, is renewed this fall. It mainly targets 15-25 ans to “improve knowledge from an early age”, but also “reduce the social desirability of the use of this substance”, as well as facilitate exchanges with health professionals.

The agency specifies that the Hauts-de-France addicto-vigilance center has identified 120 cases in 2023 of people “presenting complications attributable to nitrous oxide”. A increase compared to 2022 where 99 cases had been identified in the region. “These data remain partial due to under-declaration to the center and the impossibility in certain cases of establishing a link between an accident and the consumption of nitrous oxide,” tempers the structure.

Symptoms not easy to detect

The medical profession also faces the difficulty of identifying those who take it. “For example, some people drive after drinking. But the police are not able to see him. In emergencies too, it is not easy to detect the signals, even if the teams are increasingly aware. Students in health fields consume it themselves, despite being aware of the dangers. »

We simply know that there are certain immediate effects, and others in the long term. And consuming it once can have consequences as serious as if you take it regularly.

Another difficulty: consumption occurs mainly among young adults. “However, these are patients that we do not often see,” says Dr. Loez. “We expect not to have people who answer that they consume, we must not hide our faces on this questionnaire operation. But we will know a little more.” The URPS is negotiating with the ARS to relaunch a new campaign, during 2025.

“Until I can no longer walk”

Here are some of the known effects following the consumption of nitrous oxide: these range from cold burn to neurological effects. Patients experience tingling or end with a thrombosis (blood clot that forms in a vein). They can also decompensatelinked to underlying pathologies. “It’s okay until you can no longer walk » relates Dr. Loez. The practitioner chose to leave a bottle – empty, of course – of nitrous oxide visible in his office. “I see how people react. Some people ask me what it is. Others say to me: 'So doctor, did you have a good evening last night?' » A good way for him to start the discussion without forcing it.

Want to testify on the subject? Are you from the Lille region and consume nitrous oxide, or do you have a consumer in your entourage to whom an alarming episode has or has not happened? Write to us using the form below. The data will be anonymized.

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