Poisoning: Treatment, Procedure, Cost and Side Effects

Poisoning is a life-threatening act. An act of poisoning takes place when any substance that creates a detuning, interfering the normal body functioning when either injected, absorbed, inhaled or swallowed. The process of treatment in order to deal and cure harm caused by poisons is known as toxicology. Poisoning requires immediate treatment. If you come across a person poisoned by any means and showing dreadful symptoms, you should take the person immediately to the hospital or call for an ambulance. However, in case the person does not show any symptom but has swallowed or inhaled serious poison, it is recommended to get a medical help as soon as possible.

Poison can be of various categories. Toxic chemicals like cyanide, paint, phenyl if accidentally reaches inside a human body, it acts as a poison and can kill the person. On the other hand, some medicines and food substances also can be poisonous, like some specific mushroom are poisonous in nature, drinking water with chemicals can be harmful too.

Medicines prescribed by the doctor to treat heart disease, nervous problem or drugs that prevent blood clotting can be poisonous to health if taken in excess amount. Even intake of an excess proportion of Vitamin A and D may lead to liver failure.

The symptoms of poisoning vary greatly. It may cause pain or can be painless too, can slow or increase the heart rate of the victim, stimulate the breathing or reduce it, losing muscle control or muscle twitching, drooling, blurred vision or disorientation.

Do not wait for the symptoms to evolve. If you come across any person who has taken any substance that can be harmful and poisonous, take the person to the hospital. Even if the person did not take any substance that looks harmful in your eyes, but anyhow has tried to harm himself or herself, a doctor check-up is mostly recommended.

Until the medical help arrives, you must conduct necessary first aid. For a person who has swallowed something poisonous, check and wash away the remaining material from inside the person's mouth. For poison that has affected the skin or eyes, a shower or gentle flush in the region is recommended primarily. For a victim who has inhaled poison, get him some fresh air immediately.

The doctor would examine and investigate the entire history and will further conduct few medical tests. These tests would determine the cause of the poisoning. The tests include blood tests to check the poison in the blood, electrocardiogram to check the condition of the heart and often a CT scan is also done.

Treatment is dependent on the cause of the poisoning. Activated charcoal is used as an agent to treat someone poisoned. The advantage of the charcoal is that it binds the poison and controls getting further absorbed into the bloodline.

Sedatives are for people who are agitated. Anti-epileptic medicines are especially for ones with seizure fits. Antidotes are used to reverse the effect of the poison or stop the effect of poison. In case the person stops breathing or suffering from excess difficulty in breathing, ventilators are used to facilitate the breathing process.

If you are the victim of any substance that is harmful or poisonous for you, treatment is essential.

If you are not exposed to any harmful substance, you are not eligible or do not need this treatment.

Activated charcoal often used to treat poisoning has multiple side effects like black stools, constipation, a tendency to vomiting, black tongue and diarrhoea. However, side effects of antidote are more or less the same like rashes, vomiting, and nausea.

The recovery rests on the severity of the condition. For victims who received medical help after a long time, chances of his survival is rare. However, on the other hand, if treated properly and immediately, recovery is attained much faster.

The overall cost behind the treatment is subject to the cause and the condition of the patient. Thus it hugely differs from case to case. Each cause calls for a different treatment procedure, and so do the treatment cost.

The recovery rests on the severity of the condition of the victim. Most of the toxic agents are reversible in nature and do not cause permanent damage, whereas some of the substances or poison leads to permanent damage with no chances of recovery.