I read somewhere years ago that there is a high chance of dying even after days when inhaling smoke. A friend of my mother’s was in the hospital due to inhaling smoke after their house caught fire. He was in the hospital for a few weeks and he was cleared to go home 4 days ago.
Why is there such a high chance of dying even after days and days of inhaling smoke?
In: Biology
Aside from the obvious (smoke takes up space where oxygen could be, strangling the person, killing cells, and killing them *immediately*), toxic fumes from the stuff that’s burning (treated wood, plastics, carpet, and chemicals created by the burning process) can also affect a person.
Added to this, [if they have any pre-existing (known or unknown) conditions](https://www.medstarhealth.org/blog/smoke-inhalation-fires-quiet-killer), the lack of oxygen, and the breathing of toxic fumes can hurt people:
>People who have heart failure, arrhythmia, or other forms of heart disease are especially at risk from smoke inhalation. Their lungs are put under greater stress from lack of oxygen, which also strains the heart and could even trigger a heart attack. But even otherwise healthy people can develop heart-related complications from smoke inhalation due to the lack of oxygen being supplied to the body.
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