Carbon monoxide test

The article was written by Dr. Phan Dinh Thuy Tien - General Internal Medicine, Department of Examination & Internal Medicine - Vinmec Nha Trang International General Hospital.

When you smoke, carbon monoxide, a toxic gas, displaces some of the oxygen in your blood and affects your unborn baby. Carbon monoxide (CO) is a colorless, odorless and tasteless toxic gas. You can't see it or smell it, but it's in cigarette smoke. CO is also present in faulty gas furnaces or car exhaust fumes.

When you smoke a cigarette (including manufactured or rolled cigarettes), CO displaces some of the oxygen that enters your lungs and enters your bloodstream. This prevents red blood cells from carrying oxygen around your body and your baby.
This is very dangerous because it deprives the baby of oxygen, slows the baby's growth and development, and increases the risk of miscarriage, stillbirth, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) ) .

As part of routine care, your midwife should perform a carbon monoxide test at your first appointment and at follow-up visits. This simple test will show how much of these gases you and your child have been exposed to.
How a CO test works
You blow into a hand-held machine, called a CO monitor, which measures the level of CO in your body.
Some machines can also calculate the amount of CO passed to your child.
The more CO you inhale, the higher your CO reading. This is because the more smoke you breathe in, the more CO you have in your body.
This test can also show if you are inhaling harmful amounts of secondhand smoke.
If you look at the results of the CO test, the reading is measured in COppm, which means the number of CO molecules in 1 million parts of air. Women with a CO test result of 3ppm or higher may be referred to the Smoking Cessation Service.
When you stop smoking, your CO reading will drop, showing that you and your child are free of this toxic gas. If your readings are high and you don't smoke, you may be at risk of CO poisoning from a faulty appliance and you should check gas appliances such as gas stoves.

No. E-cigarettes do not contain carbon monoxide or many other harmful gases found in cigarettes. If you only use e-cigarettes, you won't get a higher score on the CO test.
Vinmec International General Hospital is one of the hospitals that not only ensures professional quality with a team of leading medical doctors, a system of modern equipment and technology. The hospital provides comprehensive and professional medical examination, consultation and treatment services, with a civilized, polite, safe and sterile medical examination and treatment space. Customers when choosing to perform tests here can be completely assured of the accuracy of test results.

References: tommys.org