What is Botulinum toxin? What to do to prevent Botulinum toxin?

Botulinum toxin is one of the extremely dangerous toxins, it affects human health very badly, and can even cause death. So do you know about this toxin yet? Let’s find out with Tnhelearning.edu.vn what is Botulinum toxin? What to do to prevent Botulinum toxins? right here.

What is Botulinum toxin?

Botulinum toxin is a very dangerous toxin that can cause serious poisoning in humans. This toxin is produced by the bacterium Clostridium Botulinum , which is found in the natural environment, such as soil and livestock manure. That means Botulinum toxin can appear anywhere Clostridium Botulinum bacteria can live.

Known to be an extremely potent toxin, Botulinum is lethal at doses of approximately 1.2-1.3ng/kg when injected and 10-13ng/kg when inhaled . This toxin includes 7 main types: A, B, C, D, E, F, G (A and B are 2 types that are capable of causing death to 98.7%).

What is Botulinum toxin?

Where does Botulinum toxin appear?

Botulinum toxin can be produced under certain conditions, such as in an oxygen-depleted or humid environment. This often happens during food processing, especially canned or bottled foods. That’s why canned or bottled products are also potential sources for Botulinum toxins.

Botulinum toxins can also be present in vegetable soils , due to the use of livestock manure containing the bacterium Clostridium Botulinum. This can lead to Botulinum toxicity through the vegetables grown in that soil.

Besides, since 1989, Botulinum solo has been applied by cosmetic doctor Richard Clack as an ingredient to make Botox in cosmetics. The product has been found to be safe and effective.

Where does Botulinum toxin appear?

Causes of Botulinum Toxin

Food

Clostridium Botulinum bacteria usually live in low-oxygen and humid air environments such as the ground, vegetable soil, water, spoiled food, contaminated drinks, and unsafe food processing environments. foods such as deli meats, seafood, mushroom dishes, onions, canned goods and packaged foods.

Wound

Wound botulinum poisoning usually occurs when the bacterium Clostridium Botulinum produces the toxin and enters the bloodstream through a wound in the skin. If your wound involves a hard object or soil, it may contain Clostridium Botulinum bacteria. If the wound is not cleaned and treated properly, bacteria can release Botulinum toxin into the wound, leading to poisoning.

In some cases, botulinum toxin can be detected due to the unsafe use of cosmetic products containing Botox.

Causes of Botulinum Toxin

Manifestations of Botulinum poisoning

According to the Food Safety Authority, Ministry of Health, if you are poisoned by botulinum toxin, this is an extremely severe form of poisoning that can lead to death or long-term health effects.

Patients with botulinum toxin poisoning show:

• Headache, dizziness, loss of balance, difficulty breathing.
• Muscle weakness, muscle aches, limb tremors.
• Difficulty speaking, swallowing, coughing.
• Loss of sensation, nausea, vomiting.
• Loss of vision, loss of smell, loss of taste.
• Respiratory failure, heart attack, heart failure.

When noticing the above symptoms, people suspected of having Botulinum poisoning should be taken to the hospital soon for timely diagnosis and treatment. It is important to prevent disease by maintaining food hygiene and safety, maintaining personal hygiene, and avoiding contact with food products contaminated with Botulinum toxin.

Manifestations of Botulinum poisoning

The health effects of Botulinum toxins

According to Dr. Dr. Nguyen Trung Nguyen, Bach Mai Hospital, said that Botulinum toxin is a powerful neurotoxin, but is quickly destroyed when cooked . If you eat unhygienic food, Botulinum toxin is absorbed into the body, attaches tightly to the nerves, causing paralysis of all muscles, causing many impacts on human health. Here are some of the health effects of Botulinum toxin:

• Causes neuropathy: Botulinum toxin reduces the activity of the nerve responsible for muscle control, leading to muscle weakness and shortness of breath. This effect can cause neuropathy with symptoms such as shortness of breath, loss of balance, headache, and dizziness.
• Effects on the digestive system: Botulinum toxin can cause a number of symptoms related to the digestive system such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain.
• Cause death: If not detected and treated promptly, Botulinum toxin can cause death. This often happens when the patient is not brought to the hospital early and is not diagnosed and treated in time.

The health effects of Botulinum toxins

How to treat botulism poisoning

Some ways to treat botulism poisoning:

• Support breathing and resuscitation: Botulinum toxin poisoning can lead to respiratory failure so patients need breathing assistance to help ensure an adequate supply of oxygen to the body.
• Detoxification: When a patient is paralyzed, to remove Botulinum toxin from the body, the patient can undergo a detox procedure.
• Supportive Care: The patient needs supportive care to ensure bodily functions are maintained and to aid recovery. Care includes ensuring adequate hydration, nutrition and skin care.

If left untreated, botulinum toxin poisoning can cause serious health problems. So, if you suspect botulism poisoning, contact your doctor immediately for prompt examination and treatment.

How to treat botulism poisoning

Prevention of food poisoning caused by Botulinum toxin

Botulinum toxin food poisoning is a serious problem and can have significant health consequences. Here are some ways to prevent food poisoning caused by Botulinum toxin:

• Ensure food hygiene and safety: Always keep work surfaces, equipment, cooking utensils and food storage clean. Use clean water to wash food, avoid food contact with dirty environment, do not use expired food.
• Cook properly: Ensure adequate heat when cooking to kill Clostridium Botulinum bacteria. Food should be fully cooked before eating and half-eaten food should not be eaten.
• Store food properly: Food needs to be stored at the right temperature to avoid the growth of Clostridium botulinum bacteria. Avoid storing food at room temperature for long periods of time or storing food too cold.
• Check Canned Products: Canned products, like canned foods and carbonated drinks, can be contaminated with Botulinum toxins. Before use, check for lumps, shine or thickening on the lid of the can to avoid using a contaminated product.
• Limit exposure to dirty environments: Avoid contact with soil, mud or dirty waste to minimize the risk of Botulinum toxicity.
• Use only trusted products: Choose trusted and licensed food and beverage products to avoid buying counterfeit or dubious products.

Prevention of food poisoning caused by Botulinum toxin

To protect your health, you need to know about Botulinum toxin and know how to take precautions to avoid being poisoned. Hopefully the information that Tnhelearning.edu.vn shared above will help you in the best prevention of Botulinum toxin.

Source: Health and Life Newspaper

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