Carbon monoxide poisoning

Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless gas that, when poisoned, causes hypoxia, cell damage, and death. Carbon monoxide poisoning can occur in various situations, both related to fires and without fire. Hemoglobin binds carbon monoxide more easily than oxygen, so in the presence of carbon monoxide in the environment, it more easily enters cells and damages them. Carbon monoxide poisoning can be acute and chronic. Early symptoms are quite nonspecific – such as headache, nausea, dizziness, and in severe cases, there may be symptoms of heart and vascular (myocardial infarction, arrhythmias, cardiac arrest) and nervous system damage (stroke, confusion, coma). People with ischemic heart disease, vascular diseases, anemia, pregnant women and their fetuses, newborns, and elderly people are more severely poisoned. About a third of all poisonings end in death. Diagnosis is made by finding carboxyhemoglobin in the blood.

Source | Author Doctor Nikas Samuolis, reviewed by Prof. Virginijus Šapoka | Vilnius University | Faculty of Medicine | Head of the Department of Internal Medicine, Family Medicine, and Oncology