I consumed food containing toxin. Please help.

Hi,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

I would like to give a scientific explanation of food/chemical toxicity.

The ingredients used to prepare fast food may not always be the same. The cook may use different brands, different batch of the same manufacturer, or different item itself. The procedure of cooking is also subjective. Hence the taste what we get once may be different from the second time. A difference in the taste or missing something second time compared to the previous time also happens due to consumer psychology (who eats the food), the level of hunger or mood or the environment. And you are healthy in other words alive after eating that food which means it is not fatal to you.

There are many dangerous or toxic foodstuff which we use commonly. It includes vegetables exposed to pesticides, meat exposed to antibiotics/hormones during farming, preservatives, flavors, taste enhancers (including some chemicals which make you addicted to using it again). Our body can detoxify and excrete a few of these toxins.

It is possible for a toxin to act in the body or show its bad effect for a maximum of one week. The washout period for any chemical is 14 days. It means after 14 days, any type of toxin gets excreted out of the body. Hence it cannot show its effect after one month.

Consuming the same chemical daily through food or exposure to chemical hazards continuously can produce some amount of visible bad effects on the body organs such as liver or kidney. It will not happen with a single dose. If the single dose is high, then the side effects appear immediately and go off gradually after few days. The amount of toxins deposited within the body gets detoxified slowly and will be excreted over a period of time. Thus, the amount/volume of toxin in the body will be definitely lesser than earlier.

One-time exposure will never cause late effects in the body. Either it shows its bad effect immediately or as early as possible. No later effect is possible.

Long time exposure to chemicals will affect the liver or kidney, and they get altered in their microscopic structure. Because of this structural alteration, the function of that organ gets affected. This can be clinically seen with some symptoms. There are laboratory investigations to check the damage caused to any particular organ. This will tell you if the liver/kidney is affected or not. But, such a damage will never happen with single exposure to toxins in food.

Hi,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

There is a concept known as 'hit and run drug'. According to this concept, toxins entering our body hit/act on some cells or organs and get excreted out of the body. So, the toxin does not stay within the body, but the action lasts for a long time as the body mechanism is altered by its first hitting action.

Fortunately, the human body is able to repair its own tissues after damages. Hence after some period, the body function will be absolutely normal.

There are two ways by which our body handles the toxins.

• First is detoxifying in the liver and then excreting it through the urine or bile (stool). All the drugs and majority of food toxins undergo this process when ingested.

• Another way is by using the immunology mechanism and destroying the toxins. In this case, some clinical symptoms such as fever, allergy, hypersensitivity or skin rashes will appear. Many food allergy and drug allergy side effects are related to this pathway.

If the body is not able to detoxify the toxin in the above two ways, then the third mechanism will be the deposition in the body cell/tissue. Long term administration of certain drugs get deposited in the heart muscle, eye and cause cardiac malfunction and retinopathy/cataract respectively.

You can be 100% sure that single consumption of toxins or chemicals will never cause such deposition. If at all it gets deposited in the cells, it will be in a very negligible amount compared to the large body surface area. So, do not worry about the single time consumption of a toxin.

You can do a liver function test (LFT), kidney function test and other organ-specific laboratory investigations to confirm the organ damage.

If you have further queries, revert back with a toxicologist or a pharmacologist online --> https://www.icliniq.com/ask-a-doctor-online/toxicologist

Dear Tacteam, Welcome back to icliniq.com. Your questions is very interesting and no one can say it is impossible. the very first things is the wood particle is a foreign particle (outside from our body), hence produce severe inflammation wherever it stuck. From vein, the particle will go to heart. While pumping, the heart pump the particle into arteries. The particle could travel through larger arteries and then it stuck in one place where the size (diameter) of the artery is smaller. The site may be lung, hands or legs or internal organs or heart itself (As you mentioned). After it stuck, it can produce inflammation, local (Stick) injury, which leads to bleeding. The very next step is activation of clotting mechanism, and clot formation. The size of the clot may or may not grow. Definitely, the clot is going to block the blood supply in artery. this leads to necrosis or hypoxia or infarction in the affected areas. I dont think by shaking the vessels/blood circulation, we can displace it. The particle usually blocks/struck in the smaller arteries, where there is no hope for further movement. If at all, your shake therapy displace the particle from one place, it will go and sit/block another smallest blood vessels. The blood runs with a pressure, hence it pushes the particle into a smallest vessels. The wood particle can not be degradable by our body system and can not be excretable from blood circulation. It is dangerous at some point of time, may be later periods. If the size of the particle is < 1 mm, then it can get filtered in reticuloendothelial system in liver-spleen and can come out of blood circulation, but settle in liver/spleen. If the particle size can cross the Bowman's capsule of kidney, then can be excretable through urine. Thank you.

Dear Tacteam, You are almost correct in your questions. There are three layers in the heart, endocardium, myocardium and pericardium. Endocardium is the innermost layer, it means it is the surface seen if you cut open the heart in the chambers. The blood in the heart is keep in contact with this layer. As you mentioned, the wood particle can directly prick the endocardium when the particle is within the heart chambers. If the particle pricks/stuck in endocardium loosely, it will get detached and will move with the blood circulation to other parts. Because the heart keeps on pumping with high pressure. As per your concern: if the particle pierce the endocardium forcefully, then it may enter into the layer and stuck there itself. 100% it will produce inflammation in the layer, activation of clotting mechanisms immediately. It is symptom-less. At this initial point, it can not be diagnosed also. But, over a period of time (may be after 3 months), definitely the inflammatory reaction and clot mechanism continuing. As a result, the muscle surrounding the particle will form a solid mass (your term encapsulated) and the clot will grow as thrombus. At this stage there may not be clinical symptoms. But, it can be diagnosed in ECHO. If the patient involves in hard work/heavy exercise, (Increase the cardiac work load), then the patient definitely feels mild cardiac symptoms (chest heaviness, tightness, mild pain in chest, etc). This also leads to a dangerous complication called thrombo embolism - it means the thrombus (clot in the particle size has grown as little big), gets detached (now called as emboli) and circulated through blood circulation ---> will block in smaller arteries of hand, leg, brain or lung. This is called as thrombo embolism. Hence, if the clot is big, it is not advisable to increase cardiac workload. By increasing cardiac workload (Treadmill test) (or in your words - by increasing blood flow), we can definitely diagnose it through ECHO. Again, only the experienced cardiologist can diagnose (100%) it if the size of lesion is small. But, he will can not find out that it is a wood particle. He will thing, there is an ineffective endocarditis. Be it infection or wood particle, both are foreign particles to heart. The diseases appearance remain same. I give assurance that after 6 months (at one year - definitely) - patient will have some mild symptoms based on what is more (inflammation or clot). The experience cardiologist can diagnost the problem, but may not be able to identify the wood particle. The increasing blood flow (increasing cardiac workload) is not required - it may lead to the risk of thrombo embolism. I hope you got the expected answer. Thank you.

Dear Tacteam, Welcome to iclicniq.com. I try to explain the real mechanism what happens inside. a) As you told, the particle stuck in endocardium and bleeding starts. Once there is an injury to the blood vessel, there are two things happens. One is bleeding and second is immediate activation of clotting mechanism. If we get wound on our skin, the same is happening. The clotting mechanisms forms a clot and seal the wound or opening. The same happens in the endocardium also. First there will be a bleeding. Immediately the clot formed will seal the bleeding site. Since the clot is now within the blood itself, we give another name "thrombus". This clot (thrombus) is adequate to stop the bleeding. The thrombus is so strong enough to encapsulate (to cover up) the particle too. b) If the particle is shaking: then again injury happens --> bleed will start --> clotting mechanism forms thrombus. Thus the thrombus (clot) size is growing now. It is dangerous. c) A small part or thrombus or the whole thrombus now can displace (detaching from the endocardium) and move to other parts of body to cause thrombo-embolism. This may be another complication, if the particle is shacked. d) How the wound heal?: The above mentioned clotting mechanism is just to stop the bleeding. We have many other mechanisms to heal the wound. In this case, the particle is encapsulated with our immune cells to form a granuloma (a tight pack make by body immune cells to immobilize the particle). Now the particle can not move further. This granuloma mass can be diagnosed by cardiologist by instruments. There may not be any symptom to the patient. You might have heard that people still live with the bullet for many years which entered into the body parts, without removing it. This is also the same way. e) If the patient is having any bleeding disorders (in which no clot formation), then the condition will be bad. If the patient lacks normal healing mechanisms, then the conditions is bad. If a patient has both the above problems, then the complication will be more severe. In a normal person, the clotting and healing mechanisms are so strong enough to handle particles. f) If the particle contain some bacteria/virus/fungus, then the septicemia or infection will lead to even death of the patient. If the particle is sterile (no bacteria), then healing and clotting mechanisms will take care it. I hope my answer is helpful to you. Thank you.

Dear Tacteam, If particle moves, there will be another bleeding. It is immediately stopped by the clot mechanism. Every time, the shaking happens, there will be bleed and clot formation. It is true. But the bleed will not be more. The clot formation is so faster within the body. Hence over bleeding will not happen. a) The healing mechanism leads to formation of granuloma - in which the particle is made into immovable, surrounded by many defense (immune) cells. Hence, the particle become immovable, the chances for repeated bleed is very very less. b) If the patient is lacking the healing mechanism, then it is complicated. c) If the particle cut the capillary and still there: If the particle size is enough to block the blood flow, then it blocks the blood circulation. The body parts which is not receiving blood supply will die (in medically will undergo infarction and necrosis). thank you.

Dear Tacteam, Welcome to icliniq.com. After one year.... a) If the clot detach and goes to lung, it will cause pulmonary embolism. There will be lung tissue necrosis (death), suffocation etc. If the clot blocks big blood vessel of lung, then it is lethal. b) In the endocardium: if the clot becomes bigger, cardiac symptoms appears. Patient can feel some chest tightness, difficulty in breathing during exercise etc. c) It is so simple for a normal person's body mechanism to encapsulate the particle. If the person is having defect in fibrinogen formation, then only one possibility is there. The bleeding continues and the blood enters in between two layers (endocardium and myocardium) of heart (between vascular layers in case of vein or artery). It ends up with rupture of heart because of raised local pressure. which will be lethal. if immediate surgery is not performed, Patient will die.

Dear Tacteam, You are absolutely correct. You have given the answer. Thank you.