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D A T E |
| ‘Roid Rage: Forget Major League, Think Little League |
03-12-2008 |
| Male Breasts Gynecomastia: When nature gets confused |
04-04-2007 |
| A Few Good Monsters Don't be scared, be grateful. The Gila Monster is helping diabetics control blood sugar and lose weight. |
11-15-2006 |
| Memory Research & Meditation | 11-01-2006 |
| Lab Tests 101 | 09-20-2006 |
| HeartFelt Stress | 07-12-2006 |
| ‘Better Than Ever’ Life and Love Life after Prostate Cancer: One Man's Story |
06-14-2006 |
| Dogs & Chocolate |
02-22-2005 |
| Erectile
Dysfunction A distress signal from a whole ‘nuther part of the body |
07-12-2004 |
| Am I Losing My Mind? Or just my car keys? |
11-13-2003 |
| Don't Sweat It: (You Can Stop the Drip) |
10-09-2003 |
| What's Afoot? | 08-14-2003 |
| Feet, don't fail me now | 08-11-2003 |
| Living with Cancer: When Doctor Becomes Patient |
02-03-2003 |
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Summer Carbon Monoxide Dangers
Generators used to cool off homes in hot summer months can cause death through carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning.
CO is an odorless, colorless gas that can kill or seriously and permanently injure people who inadvertently breathe in the noxious fumes emitted from generators in an enclosed space.
During hurricane season, emergency rooms see a rise in cases of CO poisoning from people bringing generators into their homes to provide power, often for cooling fans as well as cooking.
“During Hurricane Rita, we had a family of five die here in Houston for CO poisoning,” reminds UT Medical School Hyperbaric Medicine expert, Dr.Caroline Fife. “The Center for Disease Control and Prevention tracked deaths from CO poisoning due to combustion engines after Katrina and Rita and there was a dramatic increase.”
“Teak surfing”—holding on to the back of a power boat’s swim platform and being towed—is another danger. The boat’s exhaust pipe is in the face of the swimmer.
People riding in the back of pick-up trucks are at risk, too. Numerous cases have been cited of children poisoned by riding beneath tarpaulins or enclosed “cabs” in the back of the truck. In these cases, the trucks had a leak in the exhaust system or a rear-exiting tail pipe, not a side exit.
Fife also has seen this in boats with malfunctioning exhaust systems. She urges doctors and bystanders to pay special attention when groups of people begin to feel ill at the same time, particularly severe headache and nausea. Children often become symptomatic before adults.
“People associate CO poisoning with cold weather and northern states, but in the South, we see it a lot in summer with people just trying to stay cool,” Fife says.
