Guide to Herbal Remedies

Archive for the ‘Poisoning’ Category

Most poisons taken in sufficient quantity are lethal. A poisonous substance may originate as a mineral, vegetable, or an animal and it may assume the form of a solid, liquid, or gas. A poison, depending on the type, may attack the surface of the body or, more seriously the internal organs . Poisons in humans are usually classified according to their effects as corrosives, irritants, or systemic poisons. Corrosives include strong acids or alkalis that cause local tissue destruction, externally or internally; that is, they burn the skin or the lining of the stomach. Vomiting occurs immediately, and the vomitus is intermixed with blood. Common or so-called household corrosive poisons include hydrochloric acid, carbolic acid, bichloride of mercury, and ammonia. Irritants such as arsenic, mercury, iodine, and laxatives act directly on the mucous membrane, causing gastrointestinal irritation or inflammation accompanied by pain and vomiting; diluted corrosive poisons also have these effects. Irritants include cumulative poisons, those substances that can be absorbed gradually without apparent harm until they suddenly take effect.

Systemic poisons act upon the central nervous system or upon important organs  until they affect the respiratory and circulatory systems. These poisons can cause convulsions, or delirium.  Blood poisoning, also bacterial in nature, is a condition that occurs when virulent micro-organisms invade the bloodstream through a wound or an infection. Symptoms include chills, fever, prostration, and often infections or secondary abscesses in various organs. Most poison gases also affect the bloodstream. Because these gases restrict the body’s ability to absorb oxygen, they are often considered in a separate category called asphyxiants, to which group ordinary carbon monoxide belongs. Gas poisons, however, may also be corrosives or irritants.

About 50 per cent of all human poisoning cases in the West involve commonly used drugs or household products such as aspirin,  insecticides, and cosmetics. Because barbiturates are easily available, toxic effects resulting from their misuse are not infrequent. Acute poisoning may result from over dosage or interaction with other drugs, especially alcohol. The victim of acute barbiturate poisoning may become agitated and nauseated, or may pass into a deep sleep marked by increasingly shallow respiration. Coma and heart failure may follow. Chronic barbiturate poisoning, caused by prolonged use of the drugs, is usually marked by gastrointestinal irritation, loss of appetite, and anemia. In advanced stages of chronic barbiturate poisoning the victim may show mental confusion.

In most cases the use of dilution is advisable, that is, the ingestion of large quantities of water or milk. In other cases it is advisable to use an emetic, a substance that induces vomiting and rids the stomach of certain poisons. An emetic may act locally, as on the gastric nerves, or systematically on the part of the brain that causes the vomiting. Household emetics, which act locally, include a tablespoon of salt dissolved in warm water or two tablespoons of mustard dissolved in a pint of water. Emetics must not be given to a person who has swallowed a corrosive poison. An antidote, unlike an emetic, is a remedy that counteracts the effects of a poison chemically, although it may result indirectly in vomiting.

An antidote is a medicine used in addition to non-specific measures to counteract the effects of another drug or chemical poison. Examples are acetylcysteine in paracetamol overdose, or amyl nitrite in cyanide poisoning. Antidotes are specific pharmacological therapies which may act pharmacokinetic ally, the way the body deals with the entity or pharmacodynamically, the way the entity affects the body. While a pharmacokinetic antidote reduces the quantity of drug or poison reaching or remaining in the systemic circulation, a pharmacodynamically antidote acts directly or indirectly by antagonizing the potential effects of the drug or poison. The most important action to take when poisoning is known or suspected is to seek immediate medical advice. An antidote may work against a poison by neutralizing it, rendering it insoluble, absorbing it, isolating it, or producing an opposite physiological effect generally.

Poisoning particularly occurs due to poisonous stuff which causes injury, illness or ultimately death to the organisms, regularly by the chemical reaction or the activity on the molecular level. In medicine and in zoology phrase poisoning is frequently distinguished with venom. The Venoms are the biologic toxins that are injected to illustrate their effect. The Poisons are generally defined as toxins which are absorbed by the epithelial linings in the form of the gut or skin. Some of the poisoning is caused by means of toxins, normally referring to obviously formed substances, as the bacterial proteins that cause tetanus and botulism. The dissimilarity between the two conditions is not always observed, still among the scientists. The phrase “poison” is frequently used colloquially to give details additional category of substance: Mutagens, while the Ultraviolet rays and extra Ionizing rays also results in poisoning. As it “Causes radiation sickness and cancer”. Pollutants might be poisoning and they might be non-poisonous except damaging in additional ways and Teratogens, such as Thalidomide. Poisoning occurs in different situations such as the alcohol poisoning, sun poisoning, and common of all the food poisoning. Alcohol poisoning is a stern ‘sometimes deadly’. It is the consequence of drinking tremendous amounts of alcohol. The Spree drinking might lead to the alcohol poisoning. Symptoms and sings of the alcohol poisoning include: confusion, vomiting, seizures, slow breathing pale skin, and unconsciousness. Alcohol is stomach nuisance and may cause vomiting. It affect ones innermost nervous system by deliberating the breathing, heart rate and gag reflex. These increases the dangers of pungent on vomit when one pass out from the extreme drinking. Other form of poisoning is the Sun poisoning; it is a nonscientific expression that refers to a miscellaneous sun-allergic response. The Light-skinned people have less defensive skin pigments that are particularly vulnerable to the sun-poisoning, it also might occur in several people who are exposed to overload sunlight. Frequently it occurs when the sun exposure is combined with the range of drugs, chemicals, cosmetics, and plants. The typical case of sun poisoning is sunburn. Compared to redheads, black people hardly ever suffer from sun poisoning as the pigment in the upper layer of their skin prevent the diffusion of the sunburn rays to the responsive deeper layers. The sign of sun poisoning consist of insensitive itching and a reaction. The common of all is the food poisoning, it is estimated that between 25 and 71 million cases of food poisoning arise every year all above the world. The Food poisoning is an ever-present hazard that can be banned with proper care and dealing with the food products. Bacteria associated food poisoning is mostly common, but fewer than 20 thousands of varied bacteria in fact are the culprits.

Food poisoning comes from eating foods that contain germs like bad bacteria or toxins, which are poisonous substances. Bacteria are all around us, so mild cases of food poisoning are common. You may have had mild food poisoning — with diarrhea and an upset stomach — but your mom or dad just called it a stomach bug or stomach virus.

Keeping food safe is the first step to better health. Food borne illnesses will occur when food safety measures are not taken. Hygiene is an important factor in food safety. Wash your hands before and after preparation of meals. Cross contamination is also an important factor to consider. Do not let meat, poultry and seafood come into contact with other foodstuffs. This may cause cross contamination. Always keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold.

It’s one thing to get food poisoning from something in your fridge, but imagine how many people could get sick if a restaurant served food that had these bad germs in it. When that happens, people from the health department might get involved and try to figure out what happened and make sure everyone gets the medical care they need.

Food poisoning is an illness caused by eating foods that have harmful organisms in them. These harmful germs can include bacteria, parasites, and viruses. They are mostly found in raw meat, chicken, fish, and eggs, but can spread to any type of food. They can also grow on food that is left out on counters or outdoors or is stored too long before you eat it.

When you eat or drink something that is contaminated with toxic bacteria, you may experience diarrhoea, abdominal cramps, nausea or vomiting within 24-48 hours. Typically these symptoms go away in a day or two. In most cases, the condition is not serious and will get better once your immune system gets the better of the infection.

Drink plenty of water. If you’re suffering from vomiting or diarrhea, you’re losing a lot of fluid. You’ll need to replace this to avoid dehydration. Plain tap water should be enough – you can dechlorinate it by leaving your glass for an hour, the chlorine will evaporate.

The food is prepared. When someone who has germs on his or her hands touches the food, or if the food touches other food that has germs on it, the germs can spread. For example, if you use the same cutting board for chopping vegetables and preparing raw meat, germs from the raw meat can get on the vegetables.

Replace electrolytes. If you’re losing a lot of nutrients through dehydration, you can buy an electrolyte solution from a pharmacy to replace them. This should improve recovery time.

Always wash your hands before and after preparing foods. Never serve cooked meat on the same plate or tray that you had it on when raw – make sure the resident BBQ expert is given a clean plate to place the finished product on. Also thoroughly clean knives and cutting boards.

Eat plain foods if you get hungry, such as plain boiled white rice.