The symptoms of food poisoning food: signs, treatment

Food poisoning is a fairly common pathological condition. If not properly treated, it can lead to serious and dangerous consequences. Particularly dangerous this disease is for children and pregnant women. In this article we discussed symptoms of poisoning of food, the rules of first aid situations in which it is necessary to go to the hospital.

Which can cause food poisoning

Reasons why you may develop food poisoning, a lot. Any product with improper cooking or storage can be hazardous to the human body. The following are the main causes and risk factors for the development of food intoxication in humans:

• Eating foods that have expired shelf life. Expired food begin to multiply putrefactive bacteria which can produce toxins that cause intoxication syndrome.
• Poisoning meat and products contaminated with bacteria that cause human intestinal infection, such as salmonellosis, dysentery. Especially dangerous are dairy and meat products.
• Improper and insufficient heat processing of meat, fish and eggs can cause poisoning. Most hazardous microorganisms present in these foods are killed with prolonged exposure to high temperature.
• Storing food at the proper temperature. Perishable food need to be kept only in the refrigerator.
• The use of poor quality or poisonous mushrooms. Mushroom poisoning refers to the dangerous and severe conditions.
• Canned food poisoning develops when infected with botulism. If the canned swollen, the surface of the food there is a plaque, their use is prohibited. Botulism is an infection that affects the food and nervous system. It can develop only in an environment devoid of oxygen. Rolled the canned goods are the ideal environment for the growth of botulism.
• Re-freezing the food. All the food can be frozen only once. Thawing and re-putting them in the freezer food is dangerous, it destroyed proteins, formation of toxins and pathogenic microorganisms.
• Poor washing food or hands in front of her or cooking. Also poisoning can develop when eating food from dirty dishes.
• Cooking people who are carriers of enteric infections. They infect food, poorly washed hands after using the restroom. It is for this reason, you may experience mass poisoning after visiting food service establishments.

The clinical picture of food poisoning

Signs of food poisoning develop within the first 6 hours after ingestion of poor-quality or contaminated foods intestinal infection. Symptoms of poisoning chicken, meat and other food products are growing quickly. In severe intoxication, the patient's condition may deteriorate over half an hour.

The table below details the main signs of food poisoning, the basic features.

Description and the manifestation of possible complications of food poisoning

Food poisoning can lead to serious complications in the internal organs. The risk of their development is reduced in the case of the minimum time interval between first symptoms and treatment.

The list of pathological conditions that can be complicated by food poisoninginclude:

• Gastritis – inflammation of the mucous membrane of the stomach, which can be caused by toxins and bacteria trapped along with spoiled food. Gastritis develops heartburn, vomiting, pain in the stomach, belching. Can increase the body temperature.
• Pancreatitis – inflammation of the pancreas. Especially often, this complication develops at the abuse of fatty foods, alcohol. Acute pancreatitis is treated only by surgery. It is characterized by a sharp increase in temperature, the appearance encircling abdominal pain and purple spots in the navel area.
• Acetoneiso syndrome – increased level of ketone bodies in the blood. This condition develops mostly in children under 10-12 years. A characteristic symptom is the odor of acetone breath and urine of the child. Azionamenti syndrome lesions of the pancreas.
• Toxic shock is a critical condition that occurs on the background of severe intoxication and severe dehydration. Patient sharply falling blood pressure, dyspnea, tachycardia, can disrupt the consciousness.
• Acute renal failure may develop by eating poisonous mushrooms. It is characterized by the development of anuria (absence of urine) and swelling all over my body. The patient has bad breath, it may turn yellow skin.
• Gastrointestinal bleeding often occurs in cases of poisoning in people who suffer with peptic ulcer or chronic gastritis. Copious vomiting and toxins can disrupt the integrity of the vessel in the submucosal balloon of the stomach or duodenum. For internal bleeding is characterized by the appearance of black vomit and diarrhea, pallor of skin, tachycardia, low blood pressure, hypothermia.
• Disruption of cookies or gallbladder manifested pain in the right hypochondrium, nausea, yellowness of the skin, temperature.

The basics of first aid before arrival of physicians

With the development of the first symptoms of food poisoning , you should immediately call the emergency medical help. On the phone to tell the operator the symptoms of the patient, to give his exact location.

Remember that if there is no possibility to call a doctor, urgent need to go to the hospital yourself. To self-medicate poisoning is very dangerous. Only a qualified doctor can accurately diagnose and prescribe the correct and effective treatments, so refer to it for you as quickly as possible.

Immediately after the call physicians need to be self-help. It can help remove toxicity, to withdraw some of the toxins. In the case of severe poisoning from the pre-hospital care depends on the prognosis of survival of an affected person.

The main components of first aid are listed below.

Gastric lavage

The cleansing of the stomach should be performed as soon as possible after the onset of clinical symptoms of food poisoning. This procedure helps to stop the strengthening of intoxication and bring the remnants of spoiled food, toxins which have not yet managed to get into the blood.

For self-cleansing of the stomach at home, you should gulp drink a liter of ordinary clean water of neutral temperature. Then you need to provoke retching. You can do this "popular" way, pushing her two fingers on the back of your tongue. In order to completely wash out the stomach cavity, it is necessary to repeat several times the procedure.

Remember that gastric lavage is strictly prohibited in the development of dark vomiting, disturbance of consciousness of the patient.

Previously it was thought that the cleansing of the stomach is best carried out on the basis of the solution of potassium permanganate. According to recent studies, this substance is ineffective and dangerous, can cause burns of mucous membrane of the stomach and esophagus.

Bowel cleansing using enemas

Enema is conducted on the basis of plain water. It is to clean intestinal waters. The water temperature for washingshould be room. Use cold or warm water enema is prohibited.

Intestinal cleansing is an effective method of rapid excretion of toxins and pathogenic microorganisms, triggering poisoning.

Drink plenty of liquids

After conducting gastric lavage, the patient should begin otpaivat simple or mineral water without gas. You need to drink little and often, SIP every 5 minutes. This is necessary to prevent new attacks of vomiting, which at this stage, assistance will only worsen the human condition and exacerbate dehydration.

Sorbents

Food poisoning can take any sorbents, such as POLYSORB, activated charcoal, enterosgel, smectite, APSCO. Drugs in this group to quickly clean the intestines from toxins and pathogenic bacteria. They also reduce the severity of diarrhoea, thus prevent loss of body fluids and the development of infectious-toxic shock.

Before taking any of sorbents should check their expiration date and read the rules in the regulations of the dose calculation.

What to do when the outbreak of gastro-intestinal bleeding

If the patient appears black or bloody vomiting, black stools (melena), you need to send it in bed, on the stomach put an ice pack.

Remember that if you suspect the development of gastrointestinal bleeding, the patient is forbidden to drink any liquid or medication. Such actions can increase the damage to the vascular wall and increase the amount of blood lost.

Actions in case of loss of consciousness

Impaired consciousness the patient should be placed on a flat surface. His feet need to be lifted up, and his head turn to one side. Before arrival of doctors, should always check for a pulse and breathing, in their absence, immediately begin to conduct a closed chest compressions.

Medical treatment

The paramedics will do a quick survey of the patient and begin to treat poisoning. First aid consists of:

• droppers that will help get rid of dehydration;
• drugs to eliminate nausea, abdominal pain;
• improve the functionality of the heart and regulation of blood pressure, respiratory rate.

After stabilization of the patient's condition it is immediately taken to the hospital (in the Department of infection, or intensive care). There he is a qualified medical assistance, is assigned to further treatment. Also, in parallel with therapy, a survey that helps to determine the cause of the disease, make a diagnosis and choose proper treatment.

The duration of stay in hospital depends on the severity of the patient's condition and response to treatment. Fast cure can be mild poisoning, in which people promptly began to heal and turned to the doctor.

Treatment in hospital consists of:

• bed rest;
• diet;
• drinking regime;
• droppers;
• antibiotics (to treat infection);
• introduction protivobotulinicheskoy serum (with laboratory confirmation of botulism);
• enzymes;
• antispasmodics;
• sorbents;
• hemodialysis – when the intoxication of poisonous mushrooms;
• treatment of complications of poisoning.

After the poisoning is assigned to diet and drug therapy, which is aimed at restoring the digestive system. In this period shown the enzymes, probiotics, hepatoprotectors. After checkout from the hospital, the doctor gives the patient advice on diet and regime, can prescribe medication, call date monitoring visits.

Food poisoning is very common among people of any age. With the appearance of its first symptoms should immediately consult a doctor. Self-medication can lead to severe disorders in the organism, pathological conditions and even death.