Youngsters crazy about ’funky balls’ (2024)

FAQs

What are the side effects of funky balloons? ›

It blocks the nervous system, reducing the ability to think, distorting sounds, and even causing visual hallucinations.

Known as “Happy Balloons” in Laos and Thailand, or “Funky Balls” in Vietnam, balloons filled with nitrous oxide have become a mainstay among young partygoers across Southeast Asia.

Side effects of N2O include transient dizziness, dissociation, disorientation, loss of balance, impaired memory and cognition, and weakness in the legs. When intoxicated accidents like tripping and falling may occur. Some fatal accidents have been reported due to due to asphyxia (hypoxia).

Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a gas medication that healthcare teams use for anesthesia. N2O is very safe, and providers often use it with other anesthetic medications to provide adequate pain relief. N2O can cause long-term health conditions if someone uses it consistently, so it's best not to use it recreationally.

There is no antidote for nitrogen oxide poisoning. Treatment for exposure usually involves giving the patient oxygen and medications to make breathing easier. Are any future health effects likely to occur? A single small exposure from which a person recovers quickly may not cause delayed or long-term effects.

The effects of laughing gas typically wear off within a few minutes. Children might be given 100% oxygen following the removal of the nitrous oxide mask. The oxygen helps them to fully recover within minutes.

Nitrous oxide, an opioid addictive agent.

Currently, Vietnam doesn't regulate nitrous oxide usage, just production and sales. Illegal production and selling of the gas can result in fines from VND12 million to 20 million. Nonetheless, the ease with which young Vietnamese can obtain laughing gas balloons increases risks of overdose and addiction.

Go to a rave, concert, festival, club, bar or house show and you might see people with balloons. “What are those for?” you wonder. “Probably nothing legal,” you decide. It's called whippits.

Heavy regular use of nitrous oxide can lead to a deficiency of vitamin B12 and to a form of anaemia. Severe B12 deficiency can lead to serious nerve damage, causing tingling and numbness in the fingers and toes. This can be very painful and make walking difficult.

Does nitrous oxide make you feel weird? ›

The most common side effects of laughing gas are shivering, nausea, vomiting, excessive sweating, fatigue, and dizziness. Some patients may experience hallucinations or sound distortion after the inhalation. The laughing gas dentist administers oxygen with nitrous oxide when it is being administered.

Are there any risks to my child having nitrous oxide? This gas is safe for use in children and there are no long-term side effects from occasional use. Other side effects may occur, but they are usually minor and get better quickly. Some children feel sick or vomit during nitrous oxide sedation.

Under United States federal law, possession of nitrous oxide is legal and is not subject to DEA purview.

As a result, nitrous is contraindicated in patients in whom expansion of these air-filled cavities could compromise patient safety. This includes patients with pneumothorax, pulmonary blebs, air embolism, bowel obstruction, and those undergoing surgery of the middle ear.

Severe psychiatric disorders: Nitrous oxide can cause dreaming and hallucinations and should be avoided in patients with severe psychiatric disorders.

Among other health risks, inhaling nitrous oxide (through a mask) runs the risk of asphyxiation or suffocation.

To neutralize NOx or convert the insoluble NOx species by oxidation to more soluble ones, the wet process uses various absorbents such as aqueous solutions of sodium or calcium hydroxide, hydrogen peroxide, sodium chlorine or potassium permanganate, added to the scrubbing solutions.

Laughing gas can cause panic, depression, and cognitive problems.

Nitrous oxide abuse can produce a series of symptoms. Among them are personality changes, emotional disorders (e.g. anxiety, depression, mania), impulsive and aggressive behaviors, hallucination, delusions and other psychotic symptoms that have been mentioned in the literature.

Regular use or prolonged exposure to nitrous oxide may result in: memory loss. vitamin B12 depletion (long-term depletion causes brain and nerve damage) ringing or buzzing in the ears.

Can you sleep after nitrous oxide? ›

It should be noted that while nitrous oxide is not intended to make you unconscious, there's a chance that you could become so relaxed that you actually doze off. If this happens, your dentist will be able to wake you up easily.

Nitrous oxide use is still legal and outside the purview of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). It is not detected on a routine drug screen, and patient history is key to establishing the diagnosis.

Nitrous oxide has a variety of legitimate medical, industrial, commercial and scientific uses (e.g. as a food additive or anaesthetic in medicine). For over 200 years, it has also been used for its psychoactive effects, including feelings of euphoria, relaxation and detachment (²).

We show that psychotropic analgesic nitrous oxide is a partial opioid agonist since it fulfills all the following criteria to be classified as an opioid: 1) its effects are antagonised by various opioid antagonists including stereospecific naloxone antagonism; 2) it is cross tolerant with morphine; 3) its effects are ...

Nitrous Oxide is not a controlled substance. Unlike heroin, for example, it is legal to possess Nitrous Oxide, so long as it is for a legitimate purpose. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), not the DEA, enforces the regulations governing Nitrous Oxide.

Nitrous oxide is a chemical compound for pain relief within healthcare, mostly during childbirth and in dentistry. In Vietnam, the gas pumped into balloons can easily be bought at bars and pubs or social network at the cost of between VND50,000-150,000 (US$2.08-6.25) each, depending on their size.

Drug-coated balloon technologies

Pacl*taxel is primarily used as an antiproliferative drug, and a specific balloon coating containing a contrast medium as an excipient reduced neointimal hyperplasia in a porcine coronary overstretch model [10].

Why do we celebrate things with balloons? Because they're cheap and colorful, and people like watching things fly away. Balloons in their various forms were invented for use in military communications, scientific experiments, and transportation, but it wasn't long before people began to have fun with them.

Their primary purpose is to support other concert goers who choose to live drug-free, like themselves. They announce their presence with yellow balloons, signs, and the Wharf Rats information table.

What are the long term effects of NOS balloons? ›

Effects of prolonged use (used more than once a week) may include: memory loss. vitamin B12 inactivation (the body is unable to use B12 which may causes brain and spinal cord damage.

Side Effects of Nitrous Oxide in Children's Dentistry

Inhaling an excess of gas in children can cause fatigue, nausea, vomiting, shivering, sweating and dizziness. Generally, these side effects are mild and quickly stop minutes after the gas is turned off.

Depending on the environment, balloon decor blown up with air can last several days to weeks whereas helium-inflated decorations typically last for only 10 to 12 hours. IMPORTANT TIP: Store the inflated balloons in large, clean plastic bags that close tightly over the balloons.

Nitrous oxide may also irritate your throat and lungs or give you nosebleeds. Other side effects may include inflammation of your nose and airways and coughing.

Are there any risks to my child having nitrous oxide? This gas is safe for use in children and there are no long-term side effects from occasional use. Other side effects may occur, but they are usually minor and get better quickly. Some children feel sick or vomit during nitrous oxide sedation.

Officially termed nitrous oxide (N₂0), laughing gas is now the second most popular recreational drug among young people in the UK. Abuse of the gas can lead to subacute combined degeneration of the spinal cord (N₂0-SACD), a condition that can cause serious and permanent disability in young people, including paralysis.

When B12 is inactivated by nitrous oxide, myelin is no longer kept in good repair. “That causes spinal cord damage, which can be irreversible if untreated,” said Pickersgill. Dr Mark Ellul, a specialist registrar in neurology based in Liverpool, said cases of nerve damage from nitrous oxide use were frequent.

Nitrous oxide might present specific problems for autistic children with common underlying conditions; it depletes the B12/folate system and deactivates methionine synthase, which is an enzyme that catalyzes the conversion of hom*ocysteine and methyltetrahydrofolate to methionine and tetrahydrofolate.

Very young children (under the age of two years) may not have the maturity and ability to understand the goals and effects of nitrous oxide/oxygen analgesia/anesthesia. Physically restraining a hysterical toddler and administering a high concentration of nitrous oxide will not result in a cooperative patient.

It's very unlikely. Laughing gas can make you a bit more disinhibited, similarly to a few drinks, but not enough to lead to unusual and inappropriate behaviors.

Why do balloons pop when they get too high? ›

Pressure decreases as we go up in the atmosphere so when the helium balloon rises up the pressure inside the balloon becomes more than the pressure outside and so the balloon first expands and then finally bursts.

Helium does not like the cold so leaving it in a garage or a car overnight will reduce the life of the balloon dramatically. Keeping it at room temperature will always ensure it looks it's best for the longest period of time.

They shrivel up in low and fluctuating temperatures, making them unusable in the colder months. Latex and mylar balloons are not designed for longevity, or use in the cold seasons.

One of the biggest issues with nitrous oxide is the potential for side effects. These can include nausea, vomiting, dizziness, and headaches. In some cases, patients may even experience hallucinations. Because of these risks, dentists no longer use nitrous oxide as a form of sedation.

You don't need to fast (avoid eating or drinking except water), or take any pills before your appointment. However, we do recommend that you avoid eating a big meal within 2 hours before your appointment.