We’ve all heard of oxygen being used to help patients in hospitals, but have you ever heard of carbon monoxide being used for treatment? Traditionally, we have been taught that carbon monoxide is very dangerous… it is. We are all wary of carbon monoxide poisoning, most of us probably have carbon monoxide detectors installed in our homes as a safety precaution.
According recent research, carbon monoxide in very low and controlled doses may actually be extremely beneficial to people who have suffered subarachnoid hemorrhages (also called hemorrhagic strokes). A subarachnoid hemorrhage is basically bleeding between the brain and the tissues that cover it. The prognosis is not good for someone who has suffered a hemorrhagic stroke, with only a fifty percent chance of surviving the first twelve months following the stroke; of those who do survive, forty percent experience cognitive damage that may never go away (“Carbon Monoxide”).
Researchers at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center have reason to believe that by administering very small amounts of carbon monoxide to patients who have suffered this kind of brain injury, they are actually able to prevent permanent brain damage. The body uses an enzyme that does essentially the same thing as the carbon monoxide, the enzyme is called oxygenase-1, it actually generates carbon monoxide. The way the carbon monoxide helps is by speeding up the elimination of a buildup of heme in the brain. Heme is a toxic component of the hemoglobin, and once a red blood cell has been damaged the heme can escape and come in direct contact with the brain cells. The heme causes the surrounding tissues to die as it is so toxic (“Carbon Monoxide”).
I think it’s amazing that something that we all think of as being so dangerous could actually be effective in treating serious health problems like strokes. We use gas in medicine for lots of other purposes, but usually it’s gases that we consider to be “healthy” like oxygen. If this method of treatment is introduced to hospitals around the world it would have the power to change people’s lives. Suffering a subarachnoid hemorrhage would no longer mean severe cognitive impairment, eventually patients might be able to walk away unscathed.
Have you ever heard of carbon monoxide being used in medicine? What other gases are used in medicine and what are their applications?
Hey Laura! So I've never heard tell of carbon monoxide being used as medicine before, I could hardly believe it when I started reading your post. One time when I was little, my carbon monoxide detector went off in my house and it was so scary. We had to stay at a friend's house until the fire fighters or whoever they were cleared our house and we could go back in. But then I remembered a lot of medicines are technically bad for us, I mean chemotherapy is basically poison right? I figure if the benefits outweigh the potential risks, then why the heck not? I sort of question how these researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre came across this solution, but I trust that they knew what they were doing. The only other gas I can think of used in medicine is oxygen, for obvious reasons. I've had oxygen tube things shoved up my nose before for my seemingly undiagnosable lung condition, whatever it is. But extra oxygen does help for a lot of lung conditions!
ReplyDeleteHey Laura! So I've never heard tell of carbon monoxide being used as medicine before, I could hardly believe it when I started reading your post. One time when I was little, my carbon monoxide detector went off in my house and it was so scary. We had to stay at a friend's house until the fire fighters or whoever they were cleared our house and we could go back in. But then I remembered a lot of medicines are technically bad for us, I mean chemotherapy is basically poison right? I figure if the benefits outweigh the potential risks, then why the heck not? I sort of question how these researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre came across this solution, but I trust that they knew what they were doing. The only other gas I can think of used in medicine is oxygen, for obvious reasons. I've had oxygen tube things shoved up my nose before for my seemingly undiagnosable lung condition, whatever it is. But extra oxygen does help for a lot of lung conditions!
ReplyDeleteHi Laura, thanks for sharing. The idea that something in large doses can be so deadly, and be therapeutic in small doses can seem very puzzling, and almost wrong. Earlier studies by the same lead researcher also showed that CO in small quantities also have an anti-inflammatory effect in several different regions of the body. Their work seems to have many applications, and I am interesting in seeing how it continues.
ReplyDeleteThis seems thoroughly wrong, yet fascinating. I remember being frightened of anything to do with fumes associated with fire by the fire department's presentation in kindergarten. With this in mind, I am naturally skeptical of the science behind this, because hey, hasn’t science got things completely wrong before? Take bleeding a sick person out in ancient(ish) times, or Thalidomide administration to pregnant women in the 60’s- not good. Even if it does what they say it does, could it have negative side effects? If someone administered to much, or knocked a switch by accident? It just makes me uneasy. But then again they’re probably going to die anyway, so its worth a shot. Its just so weird though.
ReplyDeleteLaughing gas has been used in medicine as an anesthetic.
I read this blog because the title seemed so silly and preposterous, but once I read it, it actually made sense. CO is dangerous because it is really unstable and reactive. If you can expose it to bad substances inside your body the CO would react with them and remove them safely. Not very many gases are used in chemistry because their physical properties make them hard to control. I am only familiar with the ones mentioned in the above comments.
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