1 The essence of the problem

In general, poisoning is a violation of the functions of the internal body of a person as a result of poison or toxin. It is expressed as a different degree of intoxication of the body. Taking into account the toxic component, the following types of damage are distinguished: carbon monoxide poisoning, poisonous chemicals, acids and alkalis, medications, and food poisoning. Toxic substances can enter the body through the respiratory tract( inhalation route), through the skin( percutaneous type), with injection( parenteral appearance) and through the mouth( oral route) together with food or drink.

The severity of the lesion includes the following degrees of poisoning: mild, moderate, severeand extremely difficult. As a result of pathology, an intoxication of the body occurs, which is divided into the following types:

1. Acute intoxication - a sharp manifestation of characteristic signs after a single short exposure to toxic substances.
2. Subacute form is a poisoning with less manifestation, but caused by several cases of poisons.
3. Acute intoxication - acute form with CNS damage and manifestation in the form of convulsions and impaired coordination( in the absence of care, a lethal outcome is possible).
4. Chronic variety - a slow course of pathology with prolonged or repeated exposure to toxins.

The most characteristic groups of substances capable of poisoning in domestic conditions are alcohol and its surrogates, cauterizing and washing liquids, carbon monoxide, some medicines, mushrooms and berries, and substandard products.

2 Features of Food Poisoning

Food poisoning is an acute violation of the digestive function when consumed by spoiled or poisonous foods and beverages. There are the following types of such pathology: toxic and infectious and toxic( non-infectious) food poisoning. Toxicoinfections enter the stomach together with food contaminated with pathogenic microorganisms. The most common pathogens are:

1. Clostridium perfringens( Clostridium perfringens).Appear in the body as a result of poor handling of meat products, legumes or poultry. The duration of the disease in an adult and a child is no more than 24 hours. A dangerous variety is clostridium botulism.
2. Staphylococcus aureus( Staphylococcus aureus).It develops in various products. A home custard or sauce that has been out of the refrigerator for a long time becomes favorable for its reproduction. Staphylococcus actively reproduces at room temperature in such products as pates, smoked products, vinaigrettes, dairy products.
3. Bacillus cereus( Bacillus cereus).It is often associated with eating rice, which was previously contaminated with this bacterium. Any perishable products that are not stored at a temperature of up to 6 ° C are dangerous. The microorganism is dangerous for its thermal stability.

Non-infectious poisoning occurs when natural and chemical poisons and toxins are ingested with food. The most characteristic poisoning poisonous mushrooms and berries. When you use poorly washed and untreated products in the body can fall into a variety of pesticides, used for pollination or fertilizing plants. The frequent cause is the presence of nitrates. The same category includes alcohol poisoning. They can arise from both excessive quantities and the use of surrogates. The intake, for example, of methyl alcohol may result in death or very serious CNS lesions. Direct chemical poisoning can be obtained by using vinegar.

3 Symptoms of

When food poisoning occurs, symptoms are manifested depending on the degree of damage and etiologic causes. General signs of pathology can be noted: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, flatulence, bloating, discomfort and heaviness in the stomach, chills, weakness, headache, heavy salivation, tachycardia.

Different types of poisoning have the characteristic signs:

1. Bacterial lesion - vomiting, colic in the abdomen, diarrhea, and they appear even within 1 hour after receiving poor-quality food.
2. Viral infection - fever, chills, vomiting of poisoning, pain in the head and abdomen, fever, manifested after 10-45 hours after eating, depending on the type of infection.
3. Chemical poisoning - diarrhea, vomiting, dizziness, increased sweating and salivary discharge, abdominal pain, pressure in the eyeball, may appear as early as 0.5 h after the toxin enters the body.
4. Botulism - signs of CNS damage( problems with speech and vision), dry mouth, vomiting, muscle weakness, difficulty swallowing. The time until the first signs appear is 10-20 hours.

4 Principles of treatment for

What should be done with food poisoning in acute form at home? Most importantly - in acute pathology, first aid is needed for poisoning. Such emergency measures include gastric lavage, the administration of sorbing substances, the provision of a drinking regimen, the restoration of water and salt balance. The final stage of treatment should be rehabilitation and prophylactic procedures.

5 Carrying out the washing procedure

The solution to the question of what to do with stomach poisoning at home begins with an urgent rinsing of the gastrointestinal tract. This is the very first aid for poisoning. The purpose of this procedure is the urgent removal of toxins and food debris. In this case, cleaning with artificial vomiting helps. This event is held in the following order:

1. A weak( pink) aqueous solution of potassium permanganate is prepared( you can use a baking soda solution - 30 g per 2 liters of water at normal temperature).
2. The first portion of the solution is drunk( you can drink 300-400 ml).
3. With the help of two fingers, vomiting is caused.
4. The procedure is repeated 3-4 times, while you need to drink 400-500 ml of liquid( usually drink only 3-3.5 liters).

6 Introduction of sorbents

In the next stage it is necessary to take a sorbent for food poisoning, i.e.a substance that absorbs harmful elements of gastric contents. This helps to quickly remove the remaining toxins after washing. The most widely used is the activated carbon as a sorbent. It is sold in pharmacies in the form of standard tablets. The dose of the sorbent to be administered is calculated from the following condition: 1 tablet for every 10 kg of body weight.

Activated charcoal is more convenient for poisoning in the form of an aqueous solution: the whole dose is stirred in boiled water( 100 ml) at normal temperature. In the pharmacy you can buy a white variety instead of regular coal. Such a substance sorbs toxins, but does not affect useful components.

As effective sorbents it is possible to drink at poisoning ready preparations - Smektu, Laktofiltrum, Enterosgel.

7 Compliance with drinking regimen

The acute course of the pathology leads to rapid dehydration of the body as a result of vomiting and profuse diarrhea. In these conditions, it is important to remember that a lot is needed to compensate for liquid losses. Only in this way it is possible to maintain the water balance, and in order to restore the electrolytic balance to the water, also add table salt( at the rate of 10-15 g per 1 liter of water).For effective treatment, you need to drink at least 2.5-3 liters of water per day.

Drinking salted water is recommended to alternate with the use of sweet, weak tea. In addition, to maintain the necessary mineral balance and complete rehydration of the body, it is recommended to take Regidron and Oralith, which include the necessary trace elements, salts and glucose.

8 Medical treatment

If poisoning is caused by toxic infections, then drug therapy can not be avoided to kill pathogenic microorganisms. After preliminary cleaning of the stomach and stopping strong vomiting, funds are allocated to restore the intestinal microflora: Hilak forte, Lineks, Mezim. When a temperature above 37.8 ° C should be taken antipyretic drugs: Paracetamol, Ibuprofen. If necessary, antibiotics of a specific orientation are taken by the doctor's prescription. The use of pain medication is not recommended.

9 Preventive measures

An important condition for the treatment of acute poisoning is to provide a regime of curative fasting. During the first day, you must provide bed rest and completely refuse to eat( only drinks).In the next 2 days, you can enter in the diet of jelly, bread without additives, liquid mashed potatoes, oat porridge on the water. Improvement of the general condition of the affected person comes quickly after the necessary procedures, but full recovery occurs in 3-5 days. During this period, small residual symptoms are possible in the form of flatulence, weakness, light pain syndrome.

Prevention of poisoning is the observance of all hygiene measures, the correct storage of products and the control of their quality. When using products, you need to monitor compliance with such standards: do not eat foods with expired shelf life;food should not have unnatural color and taste, gas discharge, odor;in beverages not allowed turbidity and sediment. Do not buy products with broken packaging. Particular attention should be paid to the use of mushrooms and berries: you can eat only plants in which there is no doubt. When cooking dinner, you must strictly follow the rules of heat treatment.

Any person should know what to do with poisoning. Unfortunately, no one is immune from such trouble, and it is important to take all necessary measures in time and in full. Sometimes it happens that the delay in providing first aid ends very badly.