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The drug for the treatment of angina reduces the impact of carbon monoxide
Last reviewed: 16.10.2021
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Even a low level of carbon monoxide can lead to death, violating the heart rhythm, - say scientists from Leeds (UK). However, the researchers promise that to reverse the harmful effects of carbon monoxide will help the drug for the treatment of angina.
In large quantities, carbon monoxide (carbon monoxide) is fatal, as it "pumps out" oxygen from the blood cells - this leads to its shortage throughout the body and threatens suffocation. The study showed that carbon monoxide retains sodium channels, which are associated with a heart rhythm, in a slightly open state. The prolonged exposure to carbon monoxide significantly disrupts the operation of the sodium channels, thus causing an arrhythmia that can be fatal.
Most risk the heart of the inhabitants of megacities with a large number of cars and a developed industrial complex, as well as smokers (including passive).
Symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning: headache, shortness of breath, nausea, dizziness, loss of consciousness, vomiting, fatigue.
British researchers, together with scientists from France, tested on laboratory rats a long-known drug for the treatment of angina, affecting the work of sodium channels. The rats were previously poisoned by high concentrations of carbon monoxide, causing them to disturb the rhythm of the heart, which managed to draw thanks to this drug.
However, scientists will need to conduct many more clinical trials to talk about new areas of application of the drug.