MORE young people could die from inhaling laughing gas after a boom in its use as a legal high, a doctor has warned.

Nitrous oxide, which is usually inhaled through balloons and is also known as 'hippy crack', is said to have caused 17 deaths in the last few years – prompting warnings from researchers about the dangers.

Dr Paul Seddon, a respiratory consultant and neonatal paediatrician at the Royal Alexandra Children's Hospital, in Brighton, said the gas is a significant risk to teenagers.

He carried out research after treating a teenager with an unexplained pneumothorax – a sudden sharp chest pain followed by painful breathing. The patient later admitted inhaling laughing gas at a festival.

He said: “There's evidence that its use has mushroomed over the past few years.

“What's little-known is that long term use can result in all sorts of severe complications, such as causing problems to the nervous system.

“It is something of a grey area, but there has certainly been an explosion in recreational use and is something that both paediatrics and the general public need to be aware of.”

Dr Seddon's study found 7.6% of 16 to 24-year-olds in England and Wales have admitted to having tried balloons, which he described as widely available in shops that sell legal highs.

His study, which is due to be presented at the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health's annual conference this week, said: “Seventeen deaths in the UK were attributable to nitrous oxide between 2006 and 2012, a figure which we would expect to rise given the current surge in usage.

“Pneumothorax should be considered in any teenager presenting after inhaling gaseous or volatile agents, and recreational drug use should be considered and addressed in teenagers presenting with a pneumothorax of unknown [cause].”

Although it is not illegal to be in pos session of the gas, it is prohibited from being sold in to under -18s if there is a risk they will inhale it.

Abusing nitrous oxide can lead to oxygen deprivation resulting in loss of blood pressure, fainting and even heart attacks.

The gas is legitimately used for pain relief in dental procedures and labour, in engines to make them perform better and in aerosol cans to prevent food going off and to make whipped cream.

A Home Office campaign last year on the risks of legal highs showed that laughing gas was the second most popular drug among young adults in 2013/14 after cannabis, being more widely used than cocaine and ecstasy.

Research by the Local Government Association said the notion many young people view nitrous oxide as safe, despite it being linked to a number of deaths was “deeply disturbing”

Among those to have died was 17 -year-old London sixthformer Joseph Benett, who suffered a cardiac arrest after taking the drug in 2012.

The news comes as Liverpool and England footballer Raheem Sterling was captured on video inhaling laughing gas.