October 9, 2001 – A preliminary study, presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Family Physicians in Atlanta, suggests that inhaling nitrous oxide, or laughing gas, may help smokers fight smoking.
The team of researchers hypothesize that laughing gas helps smokers who want to ‘quit’ because it replenishes stores of dopamine, a substance produced by the brain whose stocks decrease during nicotine or alcohol withdrawal. . The 25 study subjects all wanted to quit smoking and consumed multiple three-pack cigarettes per day, but did not use any other anti-smoking therapy during the research.
The day the people had chosen to quit smoking, they inhaled for 20 minutes, using a mask, a mixture of nitrous oxide and oxygen; the treatment produces a rather pleasant floating effect which dissipates as soon as the patient stops breathing the mixture. The researchers then followed the subjects for three days and noted an 85% decrease in their daily cigarette consumption. In addition, 92% of them said their craving for nicotine had decreased significantly, by 92% and 40% quit smoking altogether. According to the Dr Principal Investigator Haven, most of the subjects who quit smoking during the study stuck with their decision more than six months after treatment and those who had not smoked at all during the first three days were more likely than those who did not smoke during the first three days. others to put an end to smoking once and for all.
Nitrous oxide is an anesthetic gas discovered in 1793. It was not until 1844 that it was first used as an anesthetic to extract a tooth. Today, nitrous oxide is widely used in dental and general surgery and has no side effects if properly administered. It is also used in South Africa to help alcoholics reduce their abstinence syndrome.
Although the results of this study presented at the beginning of October 2001 are encouraging, further research is necessary, in particular because of the absence, in this case, of a placebo group. In addition, currently, most physicians cannot administer this treatment in their office.
Smoking is a multifaceted problem. People smoke for various reasons, because of a physical dependence on nicotine, but also to relieve stress and depression and sometimes for pure social conditioning. Without motivation, there is no possibility of success, say many researchers. An earlier study1 conducted among 13,415 smokers, in order to determine the predictor variables of smoking, established that the majority of subjects had not quit after five years of follow-up despite their very high motivation. In addition, a study2 recent study demonstrates the effectiveness of a combinatorial treatment strategy during withdrawal. Perhaps laughing gas could be one of those combinations and make the process, usually very taxing, more enjoyable.
Monique Lalancette – PasseportSanté.net
According to Reuters Health, October 3, 2001 and InteliHealth, December 7, 2000
1. Hymowitz N, Cummings KM, Hyland A, Lynn WR, Pechacek TF, Hartwell TD. Predictors of smoking cessation in a cohort of adult smokers followed for five years. Tob Control 1997; 6 Suppl 2: S57-62.
2. Sweeney CT, Fant RV, Fagerstrom KO, McGovern JF, Henningfield JE. Combination nicotine replacement therapy for smoking cessation: rationale, efficacy and tolerability. CNS Drugs 2001; 15 (6): 453-67.