Carbon monoxide poisoning: the rest of the story

There is more to the story of CO poisoning than anemic hypoxia and more to its treatment than breathing 100% oxygen. For moderate to severe poisoning, hyperbaric oxygen therapy is the treatment of choice. Hyperbaric oxygen can bypass bound hemoglobin and can oxygenate tissues by dissolving oxygen in plasma. In addition, HBO appears to retard encephalopathic sequelae. Recent studies have indicated that the mechanism for that is prevention of the rise of brain lipid peroxides in CO victims. HBO therapy also drastically reduces the time it takes to eliminate CO by respirations.