An “alarming” surge in young people suffering spinal cord damage due to nitrous oxide inhalation has been identified in Ireland, a new study has revealed.
The substance, commonly known as laughing gas or whippets, is legally available for industrial and catering purposes.
However, youth workers and community groups have increasingly highlighted its abuse by children and young people, often inhaled from balloons.
Research published in the American Journal of Neuroradiology, led by consultant neuroradiologist Seamus Looby from Dublin’s Beaumont Hospital, found a significant increase in such cases since the Covid-19 pandemic.
Mr Looby stated: “The rise in cases of spinal cord damage since the pandemic is alarming.”
While no cases were recorded at the hospital between 2012 and 2020, 14 diagnoses were made from 2021 to the end of 2024.
The median age of patients was 20.
Most of the patients in the study improved after treatment, but none fully recovered, and all of them were left with some lasting neurological damage.
The harm occurs when the drug interferes with the body’s ability to process vitamin B12, leading to a condition called subacute combined degeneration of the spinal cord (SACD).
Symptoms include numbness in the hands or feet and difficulty with balance and co-ordination.
Teenagers “are inhaling laughing gas canisters as they consider it a bit of harmless fun”, Professor Looby said.
“But what we’re seeing tells a different story.
He said he hopes the study “prompts greater awareness and education on nitrous oxide’s potential for permanent, damaging effects”.
The research was the second-largest European case study of nitrous oxide-induced SACD.
