Carbon monoxide poisoning occurs when the oxygen (O2) bound to hemoglobin in healthy red blood cells becomes replaced with carbon monoxide (CO). Because of this, the red blood cells are unable to engage in gas transfer with surrounding cells, resulting in cell death and tissue damage. Carbon monoxide poisoning has traditionally been treated by adminstering patients with pure O2. A new study however, has introduced a new candidate in CO poisoning treatment. Zazzerzon et al. exploited the ability of light to effectively unbind CO from hemoglobin in an extracorporeal apparatus (1). Using this light treatment, Zazzerzon et al. saw a doubling in the CO removal rate in rats with healthy lungs when compared to treatment with oxygen alone, and a threefold increase in CO removal rate in rats with damaged lungs versus oxygen treatment (1). This treatment can be ideal for patient care, since carbon monoxide poisoning mustbe dealt with swiftly in order to ensure decreased tissue damage.
(1) Zazzeron, L.; Fischbach, A.; Franco, W.; Farinelli, W. A.; Ichinose, F.; Bloch, D. B.; Anderson, R. R.; Zapol, W. M. Phototherapy and Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Facilitate Removal of Carbon Monoxide in Rats. Science Translational Medicine 2019, 11 (513).
Comments
Scientific Writing
The word choice and subjects in this paragraph are very well used to show a highly scientific level of writing that uses no "I" statements and is very informative.
"A new study has introduced"
"A new study has introduced" - Careful! this is personification. We know the study did not introduce, but who did?
Light Therapy
What kind if light therapy? Is it laser? etc? Maybe a mention of what it entails would make this very complete.