Inhaling nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas, can cause weak limbs, depression, incontinence, or even leave users in a vegetative state, a psychiatrist warned.
Depending on the amount of laughing gas inhaled, a person might also develop tinnitus, degenerative spine conditions, psychosis and hallucinations, said Ho Jen-chi (何仁琦), a psychiatrist at Da Chien General Hospital Nanshih Branch, referring to a case late last month in Miaoli County.
A 27-year-old man, surnamed Ho (何), was found to have inhaled laughing gas in his car while parked with the engine still running on the side of a road, according to police reports.
After receiving a call from a passerby, who suspected the man had committed suicide, police said they found two pressure bottles containing laughing gas and balloons used for inhalation in the car.
The man, who was delirious after being awakened by police, told them that he had tried to numb his pain after a breakup, police said.
Laughing gas is commonly used as an anesthetic during dental procedures, but police said they have seen cases of recreational use increase in the past few years.
Although not classified as an illegal drug in Taiwan, laughing gas is subject to regulations on medical gases by the Ministry of Health and Welfare.
The Miaoli District Court fined the man NT$8,000 for breaches of the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法).
In other news, a doctor urged people — especially those with jobs in agriculture, horticulture, or involving frequent contact with soil — to always wear shoes and gloves to prevent melioidosis, an infectious disease.
The bacteria causing melioidosis are found in contaminated water and soil, and can infect people who ingest or inhale water droplets or dust, or have direct contact with contaminated soil, especially through skin abrasions, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital Division of Infectious Disease director Lee Yun-chi (李允吉) said.
The most common symptom for melioidosis is lung inflamation which can lead to pneumonia, Lee said, adding that inflamations could occur in other parts of the body, including the liver, spleen, brain and prostate.
Symptoms are often mistaken as signs of other conditions, Lee said, citing the example of a 60-year-old female patient, who complained about acute abdominal pain.
The woman, who worked as a horticulturalist, was initially diagnosed with a gallbladder infection, but antibiotics did not improve her condition, he said.
Blood tests showed signs of melioidosis, and with a different antibiotic medicine, she was treated successfully, he said.
Due to the climate, melioidosis is prevalent in southern Taiwan, Lee said, adding that doctors should ask people with similar conditions whether they have frequent direct contact with soil to timely diagnose the disease.
Taiwan has received more than US$70 million in royalties as of the end of last year from developing the F-16V jet as countries worldwide purchase or upgrade to this popular model, government and military officials said on Saturday. Taiwan funded the development of the F-16V jet and ended up the sole investor as other countries withdrew from the program. Now the F-16V is increasingly popular and countries must pay Taiwan a percentage in royalties when they purchase new F-16V aircraft or upgrade older F-16 models. The next five years are expected to be the peak for these royalties, with Taiwan potentially earning
STAY IN YOUR LANE: As the US and Israel attack Iran, the ministry has warned China not to overstep by including Taiwanese citizens in its evacuation orders The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday rebuked a statement by China’s embassy in Israel that it would evacuate Taiwanese holders of Chinese travel documents from Israel amid the latter’s escalating conflict with Iran. Tensions have risen across the Middle East in the wake of US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran beginning Saturday. China subsequently issued an evacuation notice for its citizens. In a news release, the Chinese embassy in Israel said holders of “Taiwan compatriot permits (台胞證)” issued to Taiwanese nationals by Chinese authorities for travel to China — could register for evacuation to Egypt. In Taipei, the ministry yesterday said Taiwan
Taiwan is awaiting official notification from the US regarding the status of the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) after the US Supreme Court ruled US President Donald Trump's global tariffs unconstitutional. Speaking to reporters before a legislative hearing today, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said that Taiwan's negotiation team remains focused on ensuring that the bilateral trade deal remains intact despite the legal challenge to Trump's tariff policy. "The US has pledged to notify its trade partners once the subsequent administrative and legal processes are finalized, and that certainly includes Taiwan," Cho said when asked about opposition parties’ doubts that the ART was
If China chose to invade Taiwan tomorrow, it would only have to sever three undersea fiber-optic cable clusters to cause a data blackout, Jason Hsu (許毓仁), a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator, told a US security panel yesterday. In a Taiwan contingency, cable disruption would be one of the earliest preinvasion actions and the signal that escalation had begun, he said, adding that Taiwan’s current cable repair capabilities are insufficient. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) yesterday held a hearing on US-China Competition Under the Sea, with Hsu speaking on
RSS