Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

What Is Carbon Monoxide Poisoning? What Causes Carbon Monoxide Poisoning?

 

Carbon monoxide has no smell or taste; it is a byproduct of combustion. Humans and other animals with lungs cannot tell when they are breathing in carbon monoxide. Carbon monoxide competes with oxygen for binding sites on hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is the molecule in red blood cells that carries oxygen from our lungs to tissues all over our body, and returns carbon dioxide from the tissues.

Carbon monoxide binds to hemoglobin with a binding affinity over 200 times greater than that of oxygen. In other words, carbon dioxide is much better at getting into hemoglobin that oxygen is. If oxygen cannot get into hemoglobin because that space is occupied with carbon monoxide, then parts of our body (tissues) will be starved of oxygen and die. Our bodies have no use for carbon monoxide, when we breathe it in; it deprives our blood of oxygen.

According to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), at least 200 people die each year in the USA from carbon monoxide poisoning. Vitas Gerulaitis, the tennis star, died of carbon monoxide poisoning when his cottage in Long Island, USA, was filled with carbon monoxide as a result of a swimming pool heater fault in 1994.

It is not uncommon for a person to experience carbon monoxide symptoms but not be aware of the basis of their symptoms, which initially may be unspecific.

According to Medilexicon's medical dictionary, carbon monoxide poisoning is "a potentially fatal acute or chronic intoxication caused by inhalation of carbon monoxide gas, which has an affinity 210 times that of oxygen for binding with hemoglobin (carboxyhemoglobinemia) and thus interferes with the transportation of oxygen and carbon dioxide by the blood."

What are the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning?

A symptom is something the patient feels and reports, while a sign is something other people, such as a doctor, may detect. For example, pain may be a symptom while a rash may be a sign.

Stop using all gas appliances if you suspect CO poisoning

Flu-like symptoms, but without a temperature, is a sign of possible carbon monoxide poisoning; especially if several people in the same building share those symptoms. In such cases (when several people have the symptoms) all cooking and heating appliances should be switched off, all windows opened, and the local gas safety authorities notified.

The longer somebody's exposure to CO gas (carbon monoxide) is, the more severe symptoms will become.

Signs or symptoms may include:

• Loss of balance
• Vision problems
• Memory problems
• Eventual loss of consciousness.

These symptoms can occur within very few hours of initial exposure. Symptoms may also occur later on, even months after inhaling CO gas, and may include:

• Confusion
• Memory problems
• Coordination difficulties

If the patient has mild symptoms the chances of making a full recovery are extremely good. However, a significant proportion of people with serious CO gas poisoning have long-term problems, which can include subsequent heart damage.
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