Re: Can breathing helium be harmful to your lungs?

WASHINGTON, Aug. 28,1996-- A healthy 13-year-old boy experienced a
potentially fatal ending to some party fun when he inhaled helium gas 
directly from a pressurized tank. After inhaling the gas at a party, the 
boy became unconscious, and had a seizure for ten minutes. When emergency 
physicians saw the boy in the emergency department, they discovered that he 
had suffered a cerebral gas embolism -- a temporary stroke caused by air 
bubbles in the blood stream -- in addition to lung damage caused by rapid, 
uncontrolled lung expansion. 
              "Normally, inhaling helium from balloons doesn't cause 
problems," says Bing Pao, MD, the study's main author. "But inhaling 
anything from a pressurized tank not meant to be used on people can be 
potentially lethal." 
              After diagnosis, the boy was transferred to a hyperbaric 
chamber at the University of California at San Diego. The boy spent several 
sessions in the chamber -- a pressurized room generally used to help 
underwater divers decompress -- and completely recovered. 
              Over the years, children and adults have inhaled helium from 
balloons to produce high, cartoon-like voices. However, only recently have 
pressurized helium tanks become readily available to the general public for 
use at parties.  
              "This is the first case, as far as we know, of anyone 
suffering a cerebral gas embolism from inhaling helium," Dr. Pao notes. But 
there's the potential for future problems, especially for adolescents." 

              SOURCE American College of Emergency Physicians 

              CONTACT: Jane Howell of the American College of Emergency 
Physicians, 800-320-0610, ext. 3008, or email, jhowell@acep.org