- Posted on: Apr 27 2015
Everyone knows how powerful a good laugh can be, so it’s easy to see how laughing could treat depression. What if that laugh is gas-induced? If you have ever had dental work done, you may have been given laughing gas to help you relax and make the procedure go more smoothly. Laughing gas is actually nitrous oxide and a new study shows that it could be a treatment option for people who are suffering from depression and have not seen results with antidepressant medications. Not only can laughing gas treat depression, it can take effect almost immediately.
“The nitrous oxide treatment improved it above and beyond the placebo,” Dr. Peter Nagele, assistant professor of anesthesiology at Washington University’s School of Medicine, said in a podcast, CBS News reported. “This was fairly rapid, so at two hours. But our primary endpoint when we measured everybody — we asked the patients to come back the next day — was sustained to a day.”
More studies are being planned to help determine if laughing gas could be a legitimate treatment option for depression sufferers.
Tagged with: dental, Dentist, depression, laghing gas, nitrous oxide
Posted in: Quick Reads