It proved that general anesthesia is harmful to the brain

Surgical interventions that involve prolonged use of anesthesia may cause unpleasant consequences. According to The Daily Mail, some brain damages were observed in patients under general anesthesia. And their effect persists for up to five days. British scientists have tested the effect produced by oxygen starvation (the result of anesthesia and insufficient oxygen supply during surgery).

The experiment was carried out in people who survived after the ascent to Everest. It turned out that the participants' cognitive abilities stayed reduced for a certain time after they descended from the mountain. This explains why a lot of people experience difficulties after the surgery.

So, scientists have established that when volunteers descended from the peak of Everest, they had signs of oxygen starvation and decreased cognitive indices. They cannot pass 20% of tests, which they had easily passed before the ascent. At the same time, the people were evaluated at different heights - at an altitude above sea level, at an altitude of 3,500 meters, at an altitude of 5,300 meters and 1,300 meters in Kathmandu. There was also a control group that did not leave the sea level.

It turned out that the negative manifestations of oxygen starvation persisted for five days, even when the study participants had already left Everest and returned to Kathmandu. The symptoms such as wheezing, high blood pressure and confusion were observed in every fifth person.

Source: The Daily Mail