Nicotine poisoning: symptoms, first aid and treatment

Tobacco is a substance that affects the nervous system. But few people know that nicotine is a carcinogen. When this dangerous substance is poisoned, the arterial vessels narrow down, their lumen decreases.

A smoker suffers from a throat and mouth disease. With systematic poisoning, heart disease is most often manifested. Poisoning by psychotropic substance is also characterized by the development of increased blood pressure, coronary heart disease, oxygen starvation, tissue degeneration in organs.

Causes of Poisoning

The nicotine reaction begins when the poison breaks down in the body. Suffer from poisoning can not only smoker. The substance gets inside even through the skin of non-smokers. But most often the symptom is manifested in those who use tobacco in large quantities.

If nicotine poisoning has occurred, treatment should be timely and of high quality, because this substance adversely affects nerves and the brain. A long-burned smoker does not feel a negative effect from the inhaled smoke because the poisons contained in the cigarette burn quickly. But a certain number of them can settle on the mucous membranes, in the upper respiratory tract. Begin to manifest the main symptoms of acute nicotine poisoning - pale skin and dizziness. Patients who have suffered this condition need treatment and urgent preventive therapy, but it is prescribed only by a doctor.

What can be caused?

Often the symptoms of nicotine poisoning are manifested in the child. The blame for this is the carelessness of a parent who keeps cigarettes in an accessible place. A small child is exploring any new and unknown object, trying it on the palate. He is quite capable of swallowing a piece of a cigarette. In this case, the symptom will manifest itself immediately and can lead to very serious consequences, up to the point that a child can be diagnosed with acute nicotine poisoning. For the treatment of the baby, it is necessary to contact the inpatient department of the nearest hospital as soon as possible.

A passive smoker can also feel the manifestation of the disease. Especially if he, due to certain circumstances, for example, being at work, is forced to go to the place reserved for smoking. And there, as a rule, there is a stench.

For the first time, nicotine poisoning was detected in specialists working in tobacco factories. The cause of poisoning was tobacco dust, which covered the skin and penetrated the body through the respiratory tract. Today in many factories work is conducted in a special suit and a respirator.

You can diagnose the poisoning of the body with nicotine with a blood test.

Symptoms of nicotine poisoning

Doctors see a lot of patients who panic if they think about the effects of drugs on their bodies. And only some patients think about the dangers of smoked tobacco products. And they agree that the received poisoning with nicotine should be treated as soon as possible. In practice, there are several ways to provide assistance, but the most common of these is the use of procedures to expand arteries or vasodilators. In both cases, the body receives substances that contribute to an increase in blood flow, favorably affecting the human condition as a whole.

Vasoconstriction (narrowing the lumen of the blood vessels) is an antonym of vasodilation. It is caused by cold or certain drugs. Tobacco is also known for its vasoconstrictor properties. They are able to reduce blood flow, because of what the problem becomes chronic.

Poisoning with nicotine, the symptoms of which are important to know, causing a narrowing of the arteries, contributes to the formation of blood clots. In addition, a person inhaling tobacco smoke every forty minutes, keeps the artery in a spasmodic state. Special sensitivity is felt by the peripheral arteries on the legs. Every seventh smoker falls ill with endarteritis.

Heart disease is a sign of tobacco poisoning

Scientists have found that smoking is most affected by angina pectoris. When nicotine poisoning occurs, the symptoms of angina pectoris are expressed in an increase in intracranial pressure and an increase in the load on the heart muscle. In such cases, the probability of occurrence of ischemia is very high. A person can feel chest pressure and sharp pains. In the diagnosis, nicotine poisoning should be avoided.

It is known that the smoke in the body after a week becomes active and reaches the membrane of the brain, affecting two nervous systems: central and peripheral, which regulate the work of many organs and systems.

Further reactions of the human body are difficult to predict. There is a dependence on the doses and tolerability of the substance, so the reactions may be different. Intoxication in small doses often occurs in a beginner smoker. The poisoning of nicotine in large quantities - those who are users of tobacco with experience.

Forms of acute poisoning

There are two forms:

• Light. It is characterized by excessive salivation, nausea, a frequent pulse, an unpleasant sensation in the head, noise, fatigue. All this can go to nausea and upset the gastrointestinal tract. In general, the symptoms of acute nicotine poisoning persist up to two days.
• Heavy. Caused by the adoption of tobacco in large quantities for a short period of time, because of what begins a serious poisoning. This overdose can give intoxication, accompanied by nausea, decreased vision clarity, hearing disorders (noise).

Most people are worried about the following: dizziness, irregular heartbeat, eye pupils change. Some have convulsions, dyspnea, and even seizures.

Chronic poisoning often occurs in those who smoke tobacco for a long time and smoke more than one pack a day. The dose at which intoxication begins, for any person can be different.

The lethal dose is from forty to eighty milligrams of nicotine, which was taken at a time.

What should you do first?

Poisoning with alcohol and nicotine - these are the two types of intoxication, which should be provided with a quick treatment from the narcological dispensary. This service is withdrawn from the polyclinic care system, so it is better to contact the emergency or specialized hospital directly. What measures can be taken independently? Before the arrival of specialists, first aid should be given for nicotine poisoning:

• If possible, you need to open the window in the room.
• With a loss of consciousness - to bring to the nose soaked with ammonia vatu.
• Make a weak saline solution and rinse the stomach.
• Serve the poisoned enterosorbent (activated carbon, Smektu, Polyphepan).
• Prepare the water. The victim should drink a lot of liquid for a short enough period of time.
• Ensure the patient's peace of mind, lay on the bed, preferably on the side (to avoid choking when vomiting out).

If there is a condition with a life threat, it is necessary to urgently call an ambulance, indicating a symptom of poisoning. If the victim has lost consciousness, he must be laid on his knee sideways.

If there was a violation of cardiac activity - there is no palpation of the pulse or no reaction of the pupil to light - fast procedures are required: indirect heart massage in conjunction with artificial respiration.

What else can the smokers get?

Remember! The longer and more regular smoking occurs, the faster it leads to the development of chronic diseases. First there is a malfunction in the nervous and cardiovascular system from prolonged hypoxia - insufficient supply of oxygen gas. From this develops neurosis, hallucinations, sharp mood swings, increased blood pressure until the development of chronic hypertension and stroke.

Very often, the victims complain of a frequent pulse (tachycardia), a feeling of palpitation (severe tremors). There is a risk of developing myocardial infarction, varicose veins. In addition to all this, an inveterate smoker has a number of cases of lung disease.

Pulmonary pathology

The most common pathology is chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). With it, the air supply to the lower respiratory tract may be irreversibly restricted. This pathology does not allow the patient to take a "breath in full breast." In the morning, there may be a cough, and shortness of breath does not leave even in the usual state of rest, without physical exertion.

It must be remembered: if you start using tobacco, there is a risk that nicotine poisoning will begin. Maybe the problem has not touched the reader, but it is important to listen to the following statement: "Do not put yourself in danger and get rid of cigarettes and other tobacco products in time, so that there is no shortness of breath and other serious pathologies."

How to treat poisoning?

In cases where there is a suspicion of nicotine poisoning, the symptoms and treatment should be interrelated. Errors can lead to serious consequences, and valuable time will be lost. After determining the diagnosis in question, the gastrointestinal tract should be washed. Then the patient is assigned active sorbents, removing the main toxin from the body.

When the patient's condition improves, the doctor must assess the consequences of poisoning. They can be different. Any organ can suffer from poisonous substances, but the nervous system is at greatest risk.

Smokers also need to once again think about how to quickly abandon the bad habit and how dangerous is the poisoning of nicotine. Medical help in some cases may be powerless.