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Second this. There is evidence that anesthesia causes brain damage. This shows up in the data most for babies and small children, and the elderly, where you c

Second this. There is evidence that anesthesia causes brain damage. This shows up in the data most for babies and small children, and the elderly, where you can see it on IQ tests and chance of dementia. It's more pronounced with multiple surgeries. It may be that it's damaging everyone's brains, but it's just not as noticeable for adults. One study with twins showed about a 1.5 point IQ loss from a major surgery. Of course, 1.5 IQ points is not likely to dramatically change the course of your life, but I would absolutely not get it if the procedure could be done under sedation.

dis-sys 6y ago
It takes 10-15 minutes for a regular colonoscopy, for such short time, does the side effect of anesthesia actually comparable to the "major surgery" that can easily last 5-10 hours you mentioned?
- hef19898 6y ago
  I always get the same stuff Michael Jackson was using. You fall deeply asleep for the duration, wake up pretty refreshed, only downside is that I am usually besides myself for the rest of the day. Good thing you aren't allowed to drive for the next 24 hours.
JacKTrocinskI 6y ago
Does this include the anesthesia given to us at the dentist? The one they give you in a shot to numb the tooth. I couldn't live without that.
- therealx 6y ago
  No, that's local, not general anesthesia.
- andi999 6y ago
  I think local anesthesia does not lead to these effects (as far as we know), I also would be surprised if it does. One thing I remember when you also use N20 (laughing gas) you should either check or just take vitamin B supplements (it seems to deplete your vitamin B storages)
- pmiller2 6y ago
  No. That's local anesthesia. It's called a "nerve block". The anesthetic is injected right next to a nerve. If you imagine pain as starting somewhere, then, "travelling" upstream to your brain, the anesthesia basically interrupts signals from the point where the injection takes place.
  - JacKTrocinskI 6y ago
    Awesome, thanks for the explanation, that makes me feel better about going to the dentist.
dia80 6y ago
I'm up to about 30 hours of general anesthesia after a near fatal snowboarding accident left me with a spinal cord injury. I like to think how smart I'd be if I hadn't needed it!
- johncozen 6y ago
  Wow thats incredible. Stay strong!
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
eecc 6y ago
Oh yes... I remember the aftermath of getting emergency surgery for an appendicectomy: after breezing through a major Calculus exam before that, I struggled for months waiting for the cloud of confusion and forgetfulness to lift. And to this day I’m not sure it ever did
- therealx 6y ago
  Its such a weird thing. After a while, you begin to wonder if you just learned to work around it. I too bad a similar experience, just s/snowboad/motorcycle/.
- 4ggr0 6y ago
  Sounds like my experience with ADD, haha. But I also had three general anaesthesias in my life, so yeah.
pmiller2 6y ago
On top of this, IIRC, we (meaning doctors and medical science) have basically no idea how anesthetics actually work. For instance, xenon gas has anesthetic properties. Xenon. Gas. How's that for weird?
jac241 6y ago
I'd love to see the study for this and how they controlled for the fact that being sick enough to require general at a young age probably will ding your IQ a couple points. I'm guessing they didn't do a randomized controlled trial.
- cameldrv 6y ago
  One of the studies I saw was from Sweden and it looked specifically at twins where one had been injured. This is probably about as close to an RCT as you can get. That said, it doesn't separate the anesthesia from damage due to the injury itself, or the trauma of the surgery. Still, getting anesthesia for something like a colonoscopy or a root canal strikes me as a very disproportionate risk given the evidence.
purple_ferret 6y ago
AGAIN, these data points apply to using something like a fluorinated gas, which is what you'll get for major surgery, not Propofol, which is what they'll give you for a colonoscopy.
ajxs 6y ago
Could you post any resources that discuss this? I don't doubt that you could be correct. After a quick search I wasn't able to find any material online that really supported this claim. There is the well-known condition of 'Postoperative cognitive dysfunction', however that doesn't quite line up with the kind of brain damage you're describing.

dis-sys 6y ago

It takes 10-15 minutes for a regular colonoscopy, for such short time, does the side effect of anesthesia actually comparable to the "major surgery" that can easily last 5-10 hours you mentioned?

hef19898 6y ago
I always get the same stuff Michael Jackson was using. You fall deeply asleep for the duration, wake up pretty refreshed, only downside is that I am usually besides myself for the rest of the day. Good thing you aren't allowed to drive for the next 24 hours.

JacKTrocinskI 6y ago

Does this include the anesthesia given to us at the dentist? The one they give you in a shot to numb the tooth. I couldn't live without that.

therealx 6y ago
No, that's local, not general anesthesia.
andi999 6y ago
I think local anesthesia does not lead to these effects (as far as we know), I also would be surprised if it does. One thing I remember when you also use N20 (laughing gas) you should either check or just take vitamin B supplements (it seems to deplete your vitamin B storages)
pmiller2 6y ago
No. That's local anesthesia. It's called a "nerve block". The anesthetic is injected right next to a nerve. If you imagine pain as starting somewhere, then, "travelling" upstream to your brain, the anesthesia basically interrupts signals from the point where the injection takes place.
- JacKTrocinskI 6y ago
  Awesome, thanks for the explanation, that makes me feel better about going to the dentist.

dia80 6y ago

I'm up to about 30 hours of general anesthesia after a near fatal snowboarding accident left me with a spinal cord injury. I like to think how smart I'd be if I hadn't needed it!

johncozen 6y ago
Wow thats incredible. Stay strong!
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

eecc 6y ago

Oh yes... I remember the aftermath of getting emergency surgery for an appendicectomy: after breezing through a major Calculus exam before that, I struggled for months waiting for the cloud of confusion and forgetfulness to lift. And to this day I’m not sure it ever did

therealx 6y ago
Its such a weird thing. After a while, you begin to wonder if you just learned to work around it. I too bad a similar experience, just s/snowboad/motorcycle/.
4ggr0 6y ago
Sounds like my experience with ADD, haha. But I also had three general anaesthesias in my life, so yeah.

pmiller2 6y ago

On top of this, IIRC, we (meaning doctors and medical science) have basically no idea how anesthetics actually work. For instance, xenon gas has anesthetic properties. Xenon. Gas. How's that for weird?

jac241 6y ago

I'd love to see the study for this and how they controlled for the fact that being sick enough to require general at a young age probably will ding your IQ a couple points. I'm guessing they didn't do a randomized controlled trial.

cameldrv 6y ago
One of the studies I saw was from Sweden and it looked specifically at twins where one had been injured. This is probably about as close to an RCT as you can get. That said, it doesn't separate the anesthesia from damage due to the injury itself, or the trauma of the surgery. Still, getting anesthesia for something like a colonoscopy or a root canal strikes me as a very disproportionate risk given the evidence.

purple_ferret 6y ago

AGAIN, these data points apply to using something like a fluorinated gas, which is what you'll get for major surgery, not Propofol, which is what they'll give you for a colonoscopy.

ajxs 6y ago

Could you post any resources that discuss this? I don't doubt that you could be correct. After a quick search I wasn't able to find any material online that really supported this claim. There is the well-known condition of 'Postoperative cognitive dysfunction', however that doesn't quite line up with the kind of brain damage you're describing.