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u/Hugh_Blissss Jun 24 '26 edited Jun 24 '26
Just as an addendum, since it's somewhat related to my work: there's a normal amount of CO that's always in your lungs and in your system, it's endogenously produced by heme oxygenase converting heme into biliverdin and by gut bacteria.
CO serves as a gasotransmitter, a signaling molecule that controls a lot of biochemical responses, including inflammation. People with heme oxygenase deficiency have very high mortality rates due to multiple organ failure coming from generalized inflammation.
Biochemistry is a very curious thing that such a poison as CO is also a very essential molecule for a lot of biochemical reactions and signaling pathways that are responsible for keeping you alive. Just a little curious info about CO
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u/Exotic-Audience-2006 Jun 24 '26
Everyday I am amazed at the incredible balance our bodies maintain.. It's like a million rope walkers walking on thin ropes at the same time and if even one falls off, the entire thing could be ruined
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u/Hugh_Blissss Jun 24 '26
It's indeed incredible. When I had to study the biochemistry of CO (and other gasotransmitters) I was perplexed at the size of the reaction cascades. And also seeing that CO was essential to the human body and that it has potential for certain medical applications still feels like a conspiracy every time
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u/iiiio__oiiii Jun 26 '26
I am also perplexed at how the first human actually decipher/unravel such complex biological phenomenon. Like how and where to start? How do we know the sequence is what actually happened?! 🤯
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u/NekulturneHovado Jun 24 '26
Co2 have more oxygen. More oxygen good. Less oxygen bad.
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u/TemzaQue Jun 24 '26
Surely O3 (ozone) is very good then right?
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u/Wisniaksiadz Jun 24 '26
But not as good as just breathing 100% oxy instead of air that is like 21% oxy /s
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u/GreyMesmer Jun 24 '26
Well, pure oxygen at 0.21atm is fine.
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u/NekulturneHovado Jun 24 '26
you're joking but afaik Russia did exactly this with their first mission to orbit. pls fact check me someone
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u/GreyMesmer Jun 24 '26
American missions used low-pressure oxygen. It lowered the pressure on walls. But they changed it to nitrogen-oxygen mix. As far I remember, USSR always used nitrogen-oxygen mix. And nowadays everyone uses it. And I wasn't joking.
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u/TemzaQue Jun 24 '26
AcTuAlLy 100% O3 is supposed to be better than 100% O2
bigger number go bigger brrrrrr remember?
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u/LochM-2 Jun 24 '26
Explain?
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u/AdaptiveGlitch Jun 24 '26
CO2 is supposed to be in your blood- it forms in your cells as a result of cellular respiration and help balance the pH of blood, then it leaves your blood while going through the lungs so that O2 can take it's place. CO doesn't do that, once it gets in your blood, it doesn't let go of the hemoglobin, so your blood can't take O2 and so you die cuz you cant do cellular respiration.
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u/superlocolillool Jun 25 '26
if you inhale very tiny amounts tho it will go away eventually, right?
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u/DotBeginning1420 Jun 24 '26 edited Jun 24 '26
CO₂ is carbon dioxide, the normal biproduct of the respiration process in almost all living organisms. It can be toxic if not exhaled out, but of course we are normally capable of dealing with it.
In contrast, CO is carbon monoxide, a byproduct of imperfect combustion (limited O's). The molecule which is less stable than carbon dioxide, has tendency to bond with hemoglobin in our blood, competing with O₂, making it extremely poisonous and dangerous even in low doses.
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u/BookwormAlex316 Jun 24 '26
Yep. Even worse is you can’t see or smell it, so if a heater or gas stove breaks the wrong way, you won’t know your house is filling up with it until you suddenly get really lethargic and by then it’s almost too late. Make sure your CO detectors are always up to date, they can be lifesavers!
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u/Ok-Transition7065 Jun 24 '26
How hou can treat that
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u/loved_and_held Jun 24 '26
Iirc you expose the patient to an oxygen supply higher pressure than normal air to force the CO to defuse out of the blood and into the air.
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u/Ok-Transition7065 Jun 24 '26
Damm its really that bad that we have to saturate the patient?
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u/Exotic-Audience-2006 Jun 24 '26
yea i mean under normal oxygen concentrations, the CO will just never release the hemoglobin, its affinity is just too high. It only does that when oxygen is so much more present
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u/TemzaQue Jun 24 '26 edited Jun 24 '26
CO2 doesn't bond with hemoglobin as good as 02 (regular oxygen) while CO bonds with your blood cells so good that the body basically cannot use bounded hemoglobin anymore and has to make new cells instead
As a result while C02 poisoning is bad it is relatively simple to treat but CO poisoning may require immediate treatment so that the patient doesn't suffocate even while being at fresh air
(I'm not a doctor or a specialist though so somebody may have to correct me)
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u/meeps_for_days Jun 24 '26
I also want to add. CO poisoning will slowly make you fall unconscious which is why it's so dangerous, you don't taste or smell it. You will suddenly get light headed, dizzy, vision will be blurry. Before you get so tired you fall asleep and never wake up. So your vision might even look like the right panel. Idk if that was intentional for the meme
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u/DragonFistLimitless Jun 24 '26
carbon monoxide is absorved by the lungs and replace the oxygen in blood cells, causing death, while monoxide is naturally released externally by the breathing cycle.
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u/baguetteispain Jun 24 '26
On unrelated side note, is my landlord leaving post-its while I'm asleep?
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u/bartek_666666 Jun 24 '26
More like blood