Highway carbon monoxide can threaten health

According to reports from the BBC, researchers at the University of Leeds have found that carbon monoxide affects the resetting of the heart after each beat.

Researchers at the University of Leeds published a report in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine that a commonly used treatment for angina may reverse this effect of carbon monoxide.

High concentrations of carbon monoxide can prevent blood from transporting oxygen and cause hypoxic reactions in human tissues. Every year, more than 50 people in the UK die of carbon monoxide poisoning, and more people die from it worldwide.

According to the latest research from the University of Leeds, even a low level of carbon monoxide, like the common level in busy traffic avenues in the city, can cause heart damage.

The University of Leeds team found that carbon monoxide causes the sodium channel to open for a long time. The sodium channel is equivalent to the heart's "metron" and plays an important role in controlling the heartbeat. Disturbing the sodium pipeline disrupts the rhythm of the heartbeat, leading to fatal arrhythmias.