If you are unintentionally exposed to carbon monoxide, seeking medical assistance immediately can mean the difference between life and death.
Carbon monoxide has such a strong effect on the body that continual therapy may be required to repair damage and renew the body’s intrinsic healing capacities.
Carbon monoxide is present in fumes produced when fuel is used in automobiles or trucks, small engines, stoves, lanterns, barbecues, fireplaces, gas ranges, or furnaces.
Carbon monoxide can accumulate indoors and poison humans and animals who breathe it in.
Headache, dizziness, weakness, upset stomach, vomiting, chest discomfort, and confusion are the most typical symptoms of CO poisoning.
The symptoms of carbon monoxide are frequently described as “flu-like.” If you breathe in a lot of carbon monoxide, you could faint or die.
CO poisoning can kill people who are sleeping or drinking before they show symptoms.
Carbon monoxide poisoning happens when an excessive amount of carbon monoxide accumulates in the air and is ingested by a person or animal.
This common gas is impossible to avoid because it is found in the fumes created by all cars, trucks, stoves, grills, furnaces, and fireplaces.
Carbon monoxide should not accumulate to lethal levels, however, system failures can easily result in excessive carbon monoxide emissions in an enclosed location.
Simply starting a car within a closed garage can trap enough carbon monoxide to cause poisoning.
In a healthy body, hemoglobin is found in red blood cells and transports oxygen from the lungs to tissues throughout the body.
Hemoglobin also transfers carbon dioxide from tissues to the lungs for exhalation during breathing.
Carbon monoxide and hemoglobin link almost 200 times more easily than oxygen and hemoglobin.
This means that if there is too much carbon monoxide present, oxygen may not always find a place inside hemoglobin.
When exposed to carbon monoxide, hemoglobin becomes saturated with carbon monoxide molecules, rejects oxygen from entering, and eventually causes the organism to become oxygen-depleted.
To make matters worse, the body is unable of using carbon monoxide productively. It robs the brain, blood, and tissues of oxygen while providing no advantages.
As a result, carbon monoxide poisoning manifests as discrete but progressive symptoms.
Carbon monoxide poisoning can be treated without long-term consequences if detected early.
