injuries and poisoning
Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
Symptoms of Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
Mild carbon monoxide poisoningcauses headache, nausea, dizziness, difficulty concentrating, vomiting, drowsiness, and poor coordination. Most people who develop mild carbon monoxide poisoning recover quickly when moved into fresh air. Moderate or severe carbon monoxide poisoningcauses impaired judgment, confusion, unconsciousness, seizures, chest pain, shortness of breath, low blood pressure, and coma. Thus, many victims are not able to move themselves and must be rescued. Severe carbon monoxide poisoningis often fatal. Rarely, weeks after apparent recovery from severe carbon monoxide poisoning, symptoms such as memory loss, poor coordination, movement disorders, depression, and psychosis (which are referred to as delayed neuropsychiatric symptoms) develop. Carbon monoxide is dangerous because a person may not recognize drowsiness as a symptom of poisoning. Consequently, someone with mild poisoning can go to sleep and continue to breathe the carbon monoxide until severe poisoning or death occurs. Some people with long-standing, mild carbon monoxide poisoning caused by furnaces or heaters may mistake their symptoms for other conditions, such as the flu or other viral infections. 