Did you know that hyperbaric oxygen therapy for cyanide poisoning treatment is possible?
Cyanide is a popular poison that is mentioned in many fictional books and movies. In real life, cyanide can be found in particular food and medications.
In this blog, we discuss cyanide poisoning and how hyperbaric oxygen therapy can be used as a form of treatment.
The effects of cyanides, a class of fast-acting poisons, can be devastating. In World War I, they saw their initial usage as chemical weapons.
It is important to be aware of the presence of trace amounts of cyanides in foods and other everyday items. Some bacteria, fungi, and algae create cyanides.
Foods like spinach, bamboo shoots, almonds, lima beans, fruit pits, and tapioca, as well as cigarette smoke and car exhaust, all contain cyanides.
Multiple cyanide compounds exist. At ambient temperature, hydrogen cyanide is a colorless liquid but becomes a colorless gas when heated. Smells like sour almonds.
White granules, sodium, and potassium cyanide may smell like bitter almonds. Cyanogens are a different class of compounds that can produce cyanides.
Cyanogen chloride is a colorless, odorless, heavy-than-air liquid gas. There are cyanide compounds with a distinctive odor.
However, it is not a reliable indicator of their presence. A chemical present in many plants, cyanide has been employed for conventional warfare and poisoning for over 2,000 years. It is extremely toxic whether it is inhaled as a gas, swallowed as a solid, or absorbed through the skin.
Hydrogen cyanide has been deployed historically as a chemical weapon. Numerous industries, from mining and pest control to plastics and electroplating to photography development, rely on cyanide and cyanide-containing chemicals.
Cyanides are used by the dye and pharmaceutical industries. Cyanides can be produced in some industrial processes, including those involving iron and steel, chemicals, and wastewater treatment.
Cyanogen chloride is a byproduct of the chlorination process that could be present in drinking water. On a daily basis, people may be exposed to trace amounts of cyanide through their diets, cigarette habits, and other means.
Consumption of cyanide-containing foods and beverages may have adverse consequences on health. The biggest risk comes from inhaling cyanide gas, especially in an area with poor ventilation. Only purposeful or accidental use of cyanides can cause death.
Cyanides have the potential to be utilized as weapons of mass destruction due to their rapid onset of action.
Poisoning from cyanide can occur after contact with a variety of cyanide compounds. Gaseous hydrogen cyanide and various cyanide salts are examples of toxic cyanide-containing substances.
Smoke inhalation from a house fire is a common cause of poisoning. Seeds of fruits like apples and apricots, as well as certain insecticides and the drug sodium nitroprusside, can also be a source of exposure.
Cyanide can be absorbed via the skin in its liquid state. Cellular respiration is disrupted by cyanide ions, which prevent tissues from using oxygen. Cyanide is rapidly absorbed into the bloodstream after exposure.
The body reacts differently to low levels of cyanide than it does to high ones. When ingested in low enough concentrations, cyanide is converted to thiocyanate, a form that is harmless and easily eliminated through the kidneys.
Vitamin B12, essential for the proper functioning of the nervous system and the body’s red blood cells, is produced in the body when a small quantity of cyanide combines with another chemical.
The ability of the body to convert cyanide to thiocyanate is compromised at high enough concentrations. A cell’s ability to use oxygen is inhibited by cyanide, leading to cell death at high concentrations.
Cyanide poisoning most severely affects the cardiovascular, respiratory, and central neurological systems.
How dangerously cyanide affects a person’s health is conditional on factors like how long they were exposed to it, how much they were exposed to, and what form it was in. Below are a few symptoms of cyanide poisoning:
As a form of treatment, hyperbaric oxygen therapy for cyanide poisoning involves subjecting patients to increased atmospheric pressure and 100% oxygen concentrations.
This pressure may be greater than or equivalent to 1.4 atmospheres, as reported by the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society (UHMS) (atm).
However, all current UHMS-approved indications necessitate a pressurized chamber with a minimum of 2 ATA to ensure that the patient is exposed to nearly 100% oxygen.
In comparison to the traditional route of absorption for nutrients, which is the digestive system, oxygen (O2) is often overlooked.
O2 is key for human cells to perform so-called aerobic respiration, which takes place in the mitochondria.
Oxidative phosphorylation is the pathway via which oxygen (O2) is used as an electron acceptor to generate ATP.
Eukaryotic cells first appeared as a result of an endosymbiotic interaction between oxygen-using prokaryotic cells (archaea and eubacteria), and the intake of oxygen is considered the evolutionary origin of eukaryotes.
Because of this adaptive advantage over non-using cells, oxygen became a necessary nutrient for the development of complex creatures.
The simple introduction of oxygen into our bodies occurs via two distinct processes: ventilation, in which gases are brought from the environment to the bronchial tree, and diffusion, in which an equilibrium is reached in the distribution of O2 between the space in the alveoli and the blood.
Since there is a high concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) and a low partial pressure of oxygen (PO2), this area supports gas exchange.
Since air pressure does not change, oxygen flow is dependent on the difference in pressure and volume in the chest wall and lungs.
When O2 enters the circulatory system, it travels throughout the body largely linked to hemoglobin (Hb) in the erythrocytes and, to a lesser extent in a dissolved state.
Oxygen exchange is then generated between the microcirculatory vessels (not just capillaries but also arterioles and venules) and the rest of the tissues due to the different partial pressure of O2 and the Hb oxygen saturation (SO2), which is also dependent on other variables like temperature, PCO2, and pH, among others. However, hypoxia can manifest itself if there is not enough oxygen reaching the tissue.
This may be the result of a lack of oxygen in the blood (Hypoxemia), which may be the result of a problem with ventilation, perfusion, or gas diffusion across the haemato-alveolar barrier.
Tissue hypoxia may also result from inadequate blood flow (ischemia) or impaired oxygen delivery.
Because of this, cells have sensors called hypoxia-inducible factors (HIF) that, when exposed to low levels of oxygen, bind to the hypoxia response element (HRE) and subsequently control a wide range of cellular functions.
It’s possible that hypoxia could have beneficial health effects on rare occasions, such as during the early stages of development or in the case of intermittent exposure.
However, hypoxia predominantly causes pathogenic stress in cells, which is intimately linked to the onset and development of a wide variety of disorders.
Therefore, oxygen has been suggested as a possible treatment agent for people experiencing various acute or chronic diseases.
In addition to alleviating the effects of carbon monoxide poisoning, hyperbaric oxygen therapy may lessen the severity of cyanide poisoning and increase the efficacy of antidote therapy.
There is no means to quantify cyanide poisoning in contrast to carbon monoxide poisoning, which can be measured by measuring carboxyhemoglobin levels. The treatment of choice for carbon monoxide poisoning is hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
Since hyperoxygenation competes with the cyanide and forces it out of the cells, hyperbaric oxygen therapy for cyanide poisoning has also been advised.
Mechanics of Wound Healing and Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy