Food poisoning: how to give yourself first aid

The pandemic situation is not improving. If earlier coronavirus was news from TV, scary but faceless statistics from China and Italy, today many felt it nearby. Acquaintances of acquaintances, whose relatives have already fallen ill, some ended up in the hospital.

Reports regularly appear that certain remedies protect or treat coronavirus. In these conditions, people purchase antiviral drugs in pharmacies, look for information that can increase immunity, become an effective protection against infection, or an emergency measure after contact with sick people. Let's try to clarify this difficult issue.

WHO recommends that you rely primarily on the orders of your local health authorities. Let's look at what is prescribed in the temporary recommendations for doctors dated April 28, 2020 by the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation and not only.

Reports regularly appear that certain remedies protect or treat coronavirus, but is this true?

Vaccine

Specific protection is carried out by immunizing the population, simply by introducing vaccines to develop immunity to a specific disease. Dozens of vaccines that would directly protect against COVID-19 are in development and have not yet been approved for use. Some are undergoing clinical trials. The forecast for the start of their mass use is in about a year under an optimistic scenario, Marco Cavalieri, head of a unit of the European Medicines Agency, announced this on May 14.

A cautious statement was made by the director of the Gamaleya National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology, Alexander Gintsburg: “I think they will register by the end of summer... In August, I hope, if everything goes according to plan and there are no surprises.”

There is no vaccine yet.

At the moment, the vaccine is only being developed.

First aid: normalize water balance

“For the first three days after poisoning, we recommend maintenance therapy: it is important to prevent dehydration and ensure sufficient calorie intake,” says Alexey Golovenko.

With vomiting and diarrhea, we lose a large amount of fluid that needs to be replenished. When losses are not very abundant, just drinking water is enough.

Drink small sips, but often - this will help cope with nausea without provoking the gag reflex. If you can't drink, you can start by sucking ice cubes.

With excessive fluid loss, signs of dehydration begin to appear: dry mouth and dry skin, weakness, dizziness, decreased amount of urine or its darkening, increased heart rate or breathing rate. In this case, you will need to replace the glucose and electrolytes that have left the body - potassium and sodium necessary to maintain the water-salt balance.

“You can prepare a solution according to a simple recipe: dilute half a teaspoon of salt and 6 teaspoons of sugar in one liter of water and drink a glass. If you don’t have anything suitable on hand, sweet sodas or sports drinks with electrolytes, but without caffeine, will do,” the expert adds.

The most reliable solution would be to buy rehydrating preparations at the pharmacy - powders that contain all the necessary microelements in a balanced composition. You can purchase any ORS (oral rehydration salt preparations), or ORS, oral rehydration solution, if you are abroad.

For children, special solutions are sometimes replaced with apple juice diluted twice - with this treatment it will be easier for the child to drink more liquid.

“We advise you to follow a simple principle: as much liquid comes out, so much should return. Therefore, you should drink a glass of water after each episode of loose stools or vomiting. If the malaise continues for more than a day, it is better to replenish fluid in a larger volume. It is especially important to pay attention to the child’s well-being: children become dehydrated faster and it is more difficult to force them to drink, so if the condition worsens, medical intervention and perfusion therapy may be required,” comments Alexey Olegovich.

If contact is unavoidable

It is proposed to add to the now familiar masks, antiseptics, and hygiene rules:

• before contact - products with a barrier function. They were originally produced for allergy sufferers who cannot avoid interacting with an allergen. The medicine forms a thin membrane on the nasal mucosa and prevents the deposition of dust and particles on the mucous membrane. It is easily removed by blowing your nose, so it must be reapplied. A similar method of viruses entering the body allowed it to be registered as an indication - the prevention of ARVI. Nazaval belongs to this group.

Oxolinic ointment is popular, but studies of its effectiveness were conducted in the last century and do not meet the standards. Nobody plans to repeat them.

• after contact - irrigate the nose with saline solution. This is done in order to wash away some of the viruses from the mucous membranes. It is hoped that the small number of remaining infectious agents will destroy local immunity and prevent them from entering the body. Various seawater-based sprays such as Aquamaris, Aqualor, Sialor Aqua have a similar effect;
• You can also read the recommendation for instilling a 2% boric acid solution into the eyes for disinfection. You shouldn't do this on your own. If you make a mistake in concentration or composition, you can lose your vision, we’ll leave that to medical workers.

Medicines for ulcers and gastritis

Therapy for these diseases should be prescribed by a doctor, taking into account the existing symptoms. These pathologies are interrelated, so the drugs for their treatment are similar. Most often, their action is aimed at neutralizing H. Pylori. Tablets prescribed for abdominal pain can be divided into 4 categories.

Antibiotics

Gastroenterologists carefully select antibiotic treatment. It is necessary to compare the risks of side effects and the beneficial effect. Most often, a two-week course of antibiotic therapy is the only way to eradicate H. Pylori.

Proton pump inhibitors

The action of these medications is aimed at blocking the release of bile acid, which accelerates the healing of ulcers.

Do not forget that using inhibitors in large dosages for severe stomach pain is too risky. Leukopenia, nervous disorders, and myalgia are highly likely to develop.

H-2 histamine receptor blockers

Their action is aimed at reducing acid production in the stomach. Under the influence of drugs, acid is formed in minimal quantities, which does not allow the ulcer to grow.

Antacids

They neutralize stomach acid, reducing pain. But experts emphasize that antacids quickly eliminate pain without getting rid of its cause. That is, these drugs do not promote healing of ulcers. In addition, they are often produced in the form of suspensions, which can cause nausea, vomiting, and constipation.

What to do?

Taking medications may not only not help, but also cause harm. Side effects and individual reactions have not been canceled. Drug-induced liver injuries can be asymptomatic, or they can develop acutely and have catastrophic consequences even in healthy people.

There is currently no drug with proven effectiveness for protection and treatment against coronavirus. The only effective way is self-isolation, following hygiene rules and all possible ways to avoid contact with infection.

Common Causes of Stomach Problems

To choose an effective and efficient drug for the stomach, you need to determine the origin of the problem. It can be:

• chronic pathologies;
• acute conditions that cannot be managed without medical care;
• minor temporary disturbances.

Taking a more detailed look at the problem, five main reasons can be identified.

Poor nutrition

Eating products of questionable quality, fast food and an unbalanced diet can provoke periodic spasms. When you overeat, internal pressure builds up, causing heartburn. Regular consumption of legumes leads to gas formation. Foods high in toxins (melons, fruits) can cause poisoning of the body of varying severity.

Impact of stress

Stress factors can provoke acute and unexpected cramps in the stomach. The cause is extreme situations, not chronic and prolonged depression. In such situations, it is recommended to take herbal soothing tea, an antispasmodic.

Antibiotic therapy

Any medications taken for a long period of time have a positive and at the same time negative effect on a person. Even if therapy is not carried out in relation to the gastrointestinal tract, it is he who primarily suffers from side effects. Oral antibiotics enter the stomach, where they are divided into individual components that are distributed according to their intended purpose.

As a result, the microflora of the digestive system is disrupted, which causes unpleasant sensations. The most pronounced side effects are with cephalosporin and tetracycline. Even with a shortened course of treatment they:

• destroy beneficial microflora;
• provoke pH imbalance.

Probiotics can help in such cases. You can also normalize stomach acidity by regularly consuming fermented milk products.

Peptic ulcer

An intestinal or stomach ulcer occurs for reasons such as:

• chronic stress;
• bacterial infection;
• entry into the gastrointestinal tract of aggressive chemical components.

In a chronic condition, pain is almost imperceptible. It progresses during periods of exacerbation after consuming sour or spicy foods, alcohol, and various spices. In critical cases, acute pain may be accompanied by internal bleeding.

Gastritis

This is an inflammatory process that affects the gastric mucosa. The disease can be chronic with regular pain or acute with sudden attacks that quickly appear and disappear. Treatment of gastritis is recommended to begin at the earliest stages.