The Advantages of Nitrous Oxide Inhalation in Psychiatric Treatment

Lehmann, H. E.; Bos, C. E.

doi:10.1176/ajp.104.3.164

Cited by 10 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…A few years later, more research was published by Lehman and Bos [18]. These workers, once again exploited the pure gas to produce cerebral anoxia.…”

Section: Modern Era – 20th and 21st Centuriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, it is worth noting, that N 2 O was chosen as an anoxic agent because ‘the psychological after-effects were ‘…. preferable to, those produced by….pure nitrogen.’[18]. The cohort of patients examined was suffering from a large variety of different psychiatric conditions including anxiety states, manic-depressive illness, depression, alcohol and drug addiction and chronic schizophrenia.…”

Section: Modern Era – 20th and 21st Centuriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Presciently, these authors speculate on the notion that the gas acts by a specific pharmacological mechanism. They based their idea on the difference in ‘psychological after effects’ following N 2 O hypoxia as compared to pure nitrogen hypoxia [18]. Of course, we now know that N 2 O does indeed act via various neurotransmitter systems including the endogenous opioid and NMDA systems [1, 19-21].…”

Section: Modern Era – 20th and 21st Centuriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There is a problem when comparing observations from earlier research with N 2 O [9, 16-18, 31] with those of later work with PAN [12, 13, 33]. The earlier research used anaesthetic or near anaesthetic concentrations of N 2 O [9, 16-18, 31]. Anaesthesia per se [73, 74] and pre-anaesthetic excitation associated with N 2 O [3] are stressful.…”

Section: From 1970 To Presentmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Mini-Review: A Brief History of Nitrous Oxide (N2O) Use in Neuropsychiatry

Gillman

2019

CDRR

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Background: Joseph Priestley’s discovery of nitrous oxide (N2O) was recorded in 1772. In the late 1790’s, Humphry Davy experimented with the psychotropic properties of N2O, describing his observations in a book, published in 1800. A dentist, Horace Wells discovered anaesthesia with N2O in 1844. Over a century after Davy, its potential usefulness in psychiatry was first recognised. The seminal researches in neuropsychiatry, between 1920 and 1950, mainly used anaesthetic concentrations of the gas. The psychotropic actions of N2O, at non-anaesthetic doses, were first used by dentists, mainly for its anxiolytic action. In modern dentistry, N2O is always mixed with at least 30% oxygen and titrated to doses rarely exceeding 40% of N2O. At these lower concentrations, untoward effects are almost always avoided, including over-sedation and/or anaesthesia. In the early 1980’s, the low-dose dental titration technique was first used to investigate and treat psychiatric conditions, including substance abuse. Until then, most physicians regarded the gas only as an anaesthetic agent. An exception was obstetricians who used a fixed 50% concentration of N2O diluted with oxygen for analgesia during parturition. In 1994, to clearly distinguish between anaesthetic and non-anaesthetic concentrations (as used in dentistry), the term Psychotropic Analgesic Nitrous oxide (PAN) was introduced. Objective: This paper will give a brief history of the use of the N2O in psychiatry since the psychotropic actions were first recognised in the 18th century until the present. Conclusion: The role of other non- opioid systems, and the extent to which they contribute to the psychotropic properties of N2O, still remains to be established.

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“…A few years later, more research was published by Lehman and Bos [18]. These workers, once again exploited the pure gas to produce cerebral anoxia.…”

Section: Modern Era – 20th and 21st Centuriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Modern Era – 20th and 21st Centuriesmentioning

confidence: 99%