Last month, a young man in his twenties arrived at the Kaplan Medical Center from the Klalit Group, suffering from numbness in his legs and difficulty standing. The medical staff in the emergency room called for advice from the neurology department, and began a series of imaging tests.
Dr. Anda Elam, a neurologist from the Kaplan Medical Center: “The initial suspicion that was tested was pressure on the spine or inflammation of the nerves, but all the tests we performed showed that he suffers from a vitamin B12 deficiency and nerve damage.” The medical team, which has been exposed to similar cases in the past, will ask the The young man regarding inhaling “Katfat gas”, and he indeed admitted that he used to inhale “Katfat gas” with friends regularly.” .
“Dinitrogen oxygen, known by its popular name “whipped gas” is a gas known for its illegal use, when those who use it experience a sense of temporary euphoria, but may cause neurological damage to the nervous system. “When used regularly, those who use it may experience damage to the nervous system to the point of paralysis in the legs, and in some cases even irreversible paralysis,” says Dr. Elam.
Along with the neurological damage to his legs, the tests show that the young man suffers from a vitamin B12 deficiency, and the doctors decided to hospitalize him for intravenous treatment. During the hospitalization, the doctors discovered an unexpected complication, which has not been seen so far in similar cases, which is blood clots, first in the legs and later in the lungs. “The nerve damage in the legs is known to us from the medical literature in cases of regular use of foam gas,” says Dr. Elam, “but the phenomenon of blood clots is not documented, and we suspect that this is a devastating result of the use of the gas.”
The young man was hospitalized for several weeks, receiving treatment with blood thinners along with B12 treatment, after which he was released for rehabilitation while still suffering from neurological damage. “There is actually no treatment for the damage caused to the legs, and now it will require a lengthy rehabilitation. Only at the end will we be able to know whether the damage is reversible or irreversible,” explains Dr. Elam.
In the past year, five young men in their twenties were treated at the Kaplan Medical Center who suffered from the same symptoms due to the use of foam gas. “We are very disturbed by the increase we see in the number of young people who are hospitalized with numbness or paralysis in their legs as a result of prolonged use of kerosene,” says Dr. Elam. .
