Could laughing gas reduce risk of suicide? Missouri researchers study possibility

Researchers at a Missouri medical school are studying how laughing gas affects patients who have suicidal thoughts — and they have reason to believe the unconventional treatment will have a positive effect.

Charles Conway and Peter Nagele, both professors at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, found using nitrous oxide — or laughing gas — as a treatment for depression in a previous study improved subject’s symptoms, and they recently began a new study with 50 participants who have previously attempted suicide to further explore the possible remedy.

“Suicide attempts and suicidal thinking often stem from an individual’s belief that there’s no way out of a situation other than ending one’s life,” said Conway, a professor of psychiatry and one of the study’s main investigators, according to a news release issued last month by the school. “We think nitrous oxide might help patients break out of that mindset and realize they do have options.”

According to the researchers, as many as one-third of those suffering from clinical depression do not respond to existing treatments. And some drug treatments take weeks to take affect, while laughing gas can improve symptoms within hours, Nagele said.

“Nitrous oxide may very quickly improve depression in these patients,” Nagele said. “The gas has very few side effects because it leaves the body very quickly once people stop breathing it. However, it appears from our previous research that the antidepressant effects of nitrous oxide may linger in the brain long after the drug is out of the body.”

In the new study, half the participants will regularly breathe nitrous oxide, and the other half will breathe oxygen without nitrous oxide. Both groups will also receive drug and therapy treatments.

The study will be funded by a grant from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in Missouri, with one person dying from it in the state every eight hours. Among young people aged 10–24, suicide is the second leading cause of death.

“Suicidal thinking often occurs following short-term psychiatric hospitalizations, Conway said. “If such problems re-emerge, the study is designed to provide booster treatments with nitrous oxide, which we believe will continue to lower the likelihood of future suicidal thoughts.”

This story was originally published December 2, 2017 at 2:11 PM with the headline "Could laughing gas reduce risk of suicide? Missouri researchers study possibility."