Advertisement

The study included 18 people who were given a low dose of carbon monoxide for two hours on four consecutive days. When the researchers checked the level of a certain type of immune cell linked to inflammation in lung mucus, they found it had decreased by about one third, on average, in the participants, BBC News reported. In addition, the volunteers' lungs seemed to become more resistant to the effects of an irritating chemical.

One expert told BBC News he has serious concerns about the safety of this kind of treatment.

"The difficulty with carbon monoxide is that there is a fine balance between levels that influence COPD, and toxic levels, and it would be very hard to gauge a safe dose for patients. This makes it potentially quite dangerous," said Dr Paolo Paredi, of the National Heart and Lung Institute, in Great Britain. – (HealthDayNews)

Read more:
COPD Centre

March 2008
 

Print this article on

Rate this article Poor 1 2 3 4 5 Excellent

JOBS

Cost / Clinical Audit Clerk (Medical Aid) Western Cape Pharmacist Western Cape Occupational Health Nurse x 2 Mpumalanga Operations Manager R20,000-25,000 Per Month Cost To Company Incl Benefits Gauteng - East Rand Java Developer-CT Western Cape - Cape Town Java Developer-Jozi Gauteng Lab Technician R3,500-4,200 Per Month Cost To Company Incl Benefits Gauteng - East Rand Surfacing Operator R3,900 Per Month Cost To Company Gauteng - East Rand Find more jobs Register your CV Post a job