Tetrahydrozoline poisoning occurs when someone accidentally or intentionally swallows this product. This article is for information only. DO NOT use it to treat or manage an actual poison exposure. If you or someone you are with has an exposure, call the local emergency number such as , or the local poison center can be reached directly by calling the national toll-free Poison Help hotline from anywhere in the United States.
While poisoning symptoms are uncommon after applying the drops to the eyes, these agents can produce significant poisoning if taken orally. Seek medical help right away. DO NOT make a person throw up unless told to do so by poison control or a health care professional.
Your local poison control center can be reached directly by calling the national toll-free Poison Help hotline from anywhere in the United States.
This national hotline will let you talk to experts in poisoning. They will give you further instructions. This is a free and confidential service. The rust on the nail, has nothing to do with contracting tetanus.
It is the dirt on the nail that is the culprit for contracting tetanus. Tetanus can only reproduce in an oxygen-deprived setting. A puncture wound, like stepping on a nail, can create a breeding ground for an infection. Unproven accounts have existed for decades that during World War II, British and Japanese troops used coconut water, freshly drained from the inside of a coconut, to administer emergency intravenous treatments to their troops. As explained by Dr. Plasma is the salty water portion of of your blood.
It is the clear slightly yellowish liquid that has high levels of sodium, low levels of potassium and trace amounts of other minerals. It belongs to a family of compounds known for their ability to induce chemical reactions that either relax or constrict blood vessels. The former tend to end up in medications used to reduce blood pressure. The latter, which includes tetrahydrozoline, often go into nasal sprays or in eye drop formulas that are designed to "get the red out.
This is not, by the way, a simple blood vessel squeeze. It derives from the way these compounds bind to receptors in the sympathetic nervous system, altering signals to the vascular system, triggering the change. It's this action on the nervous system which puts tetrahydrozoline in the "neurotoxic" category on the Material Safety Data Sheet required of all manufactured chemical compounds.
And this neurotoxicity tells us why eyedrops are indeed fraught with hazard if you swallow them -- or if you sneakily induce others to swallow them. Used as directed, they may indeed give you that clear-eyed look but that's mostly due to the constriction of blood vessels in the eye.
Internally they also induce vasoconstriction as Toxnet calls it. The resulting symptoms are nothing, nothing at all like the Hollywood version of events. They include rapid heart beat, nausea, blurred vision, drowsiness, convulsions. The Toxnet entry, based partly on cases of children who swallowed a bottle of eyedrops or nosedrops left carelessly on a table or counter, notes that "drowsiness and mild coma" often alternate with periods of thrashing and hyperactivity.
Over-the-counter eyedrops and decongestant sprays are frequently used to treat upper respiratory congestion and irritated, red eyes. When consumed by mouth, they may result in serious toxicity and even death.
While the end result of this prank created a funny and memorable dinner party scene, the poisonous effects of eye drops are much more serious in real life. Eyedrops and nasal decongestant sprays often contain ingredients intended to reduce eye redness and nasal stuffiness. These medications are available over-the-counter in pharmacies in the United States and are frequently not packaged in child-resistant containers.
More than of these products contain an ingredient, tetrahydrozoline, that is similar to a commonly used blood pressure-lowering medication called clonidine.
Tetrahydrozoline causes constriction of blood vessels when it is applied directly on the eye; this reduces eye redness. When used in high amounts or when ingested, tetrahydrozoline can also cause sleepiness, low blood pressure, and a dangerously slow heart rate. Young children who consume small amounts of tetrahydrozoline as little as one-half of one teaspoon can develop sleepiness and difficulty breathing.
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