Why is CO Poisoning Not Better Recognized by the Medical Profession?
• It almost invariably presents with too many disparate, seemingly unrelated and often non-specific symptoms. This tends to confuse physicians who act mainly on pattern recognition of one or a few symptoms to come up with a probable diagnosis, or at least a “short list”. The result of being presented with 5, 10, 15 or more symptoms is likely to yield a diagnosis of hypochondriasis (faking), psychiatric condition, or both. • Presentation in urgent care settings is such that it usually appears not to require emergency measures – absence of unconsciousness, no obvious provoking agent, low or normal COHb values, skin/mucous membranes not pink, etc. • It has been difficult to study in animal models because rats, mice, etc. are far more resistant to CO than humans, and also are unable to report the many psychological, cognitive and emotional changes that result. Thus we have little understanding the underlying cellular mechanisms at play. • Lack of training in the area, thus a low index of s
