Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

The Medical Benefits of Carbon Monoxide

Posted by Soulskill on from the my-garage-is-my-laboratory dept.

tugfoigel writes with this excerpt from the Boston Globe: "For more than a century, carbon monoxide has been known as a deadly toxin. In an 1839 story, Edgar Allan Poe wrote of 'miraculous lustre of the eye' and 'nervous agitation' in what some believe are descriptions of carbon monoxide poisoning, and today, cigarette cartons warn of its health dangers. But a growing body of research, much of it by local scientists, is revealing a paradox: the gas often called a silent killer could also be a medical treatment. It seems like a radical contradiction, but animal studies show that in small, extremely controlled doses the gas has benefits in everything from infections to organ transplantation."

8 of 177 comments (clear)

  1. Gee whiz! by mcsnee · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Something that is bad for us in high doses may be beneficial in low doses?! Next they'll be telling us that exposure to radiation and toxins can help cure cancer, or that the same stuff that rusts away unprotected steel and iron is actually necessary for animal life!

    1. Re:Gee whiz! by xTantrum · · Score: 5, Insightful
      seriously people this isn't that "paradoxical". Chem 101. As (arsenic) is also deadly but its also an essential biological trace element. Its about moderation.

      Sometimes i can't believe i still surf this place.

      --
      $action = empty(PHP) ? backToC() : unset(PHP) ; "when the concrete cases are understood, the abstractions are readily
    2. Re:Gee whiz! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      I can't believe you still use the word 'surf'.

    3. Re:Gee whiz! by Thinboy00 · · Score: 5, Informative

      Actually, Homeopathy often dilutes the "dose" until it is improbable that there is a single molecule of the original substance remaining

      --
      $ make available
    4. Re:Gee whiz! by jbengt · · Score: 5, Funny

      Homeopathy is wrong for two reasons--one, it postulates that chemicals/herbs/medicines that cause a symptom will cure that symptom, . . .

      Well, the same ethanol that caused my morning headache seems to have cured it.

  2. Re:I've seen this story before! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    NO is nitric oxide, not carbon monoxide.

  3. All things are poison... by notdotcom.com · · Score: 5, Informative

    Paracelsus, sometimes called the father of toxicology, wrote:

            German: Alle Ding' sind Gift, und nichts ohn' Gift; allein die Dosis macht, daß ein Ding kein Gift ist.
            "All things are poison and nothing is without poison, only the dose permits something not to be poisonous."

    That is to say, substances often considered toxic can be benign or beneficial in small doses, and conversely an ordinarily benign substance can be deadly if over-consumed. Even water can be deadly if overconsumed.

    (Ripped right from Wikipedia [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paracelsus ] )

    So, 500 years ago, this would have been news?

    --
    Grandpa: My Homer is not a communist. He may be a liar, a pig, an idiot, a communist, but he is not a porn star.
  4. Re:Digitalis, eh? by gyrogeerloose · · Score: 5, Funny

    Take iron, for instance. It's an essential trace mineral but drop an anvil on your foot and you're in a world of hurt...

    --
    This ain't rocket surgery.