Yasmina Kattou
modified to
09:57, March 13, 2024
Will depression, the evil of the century, soon be able to be cured thanks to… laughing gas? The Tours University Hospital conducted the study on 30 patients, 20 of whom suffered from depression resistant to traditional treatments. And the results turned out to be rather positive, notes the director of the study.
It can be seen as the disease of the century: depression affects nearly three million French people. But laughing gas could be the key to the problem. This is what the Tours University Hospital is seeking to understand, which is conducting an experiment around nitrous oxide.
“I’m starting to use it more and more”
30 women participated in this study, 20 of whom suffered from depression resistant to traditional treatments. The patients were exposed for an hour to Meopa, a laughing gas used by doctors in particular to soothe children before an examination. Nearly half of the patients noticed a clear reduction in depressive symptoms.
“Me, in my clinical practice, I am starting to use it more and more. What I observe is that there is a therapeutic effect which lasts at least three months”, note on the microphone of Europe 1, Thomas Desmidt, at the origin of the study. “I saw another patient yesterday who told me when the effects began to diminish, but she had been in total remission of her depressive symptoms for more than a year and a half after a single exposure,” he continues.
A gas used from next year in psychiatric services
If the treatment works, it is because it blocks certain connections in the brain. “During a depressive episode, often quite severe, we have a tendency to see our brain running in a loop on extremely negative things. Well, the gas has an effect of ultimately switching off this brain network,” adds the specialist.
Thanks to this discovery, laughing gas could be used in psychiatric departments as early as next year.