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Health Line: Food poisoning
There goes a golden saying “We eat to live, not live to eat”. Food is necessary for life, no doubt, and healthy food is essential for robust health. The quantity, as well as the quality, of our food makes or mars our health. So, a well balanced diet plan should be followed to enjoy life as a sturdy person.
Infective food intake usually leads to one or more intestinal infections. The most common among these is food poisoning. Also termed “Gastro Enteritis”, food poisoning is wide spread among the young and the old alike.
Types of food poisoning
Food poisoning has been classified into the following types:
Bacterial food poisoning — This category is caused by ingestion of food that was contaminated either by bacteria or their toxins.
Non bacterial food poisoning — Non bacterial type of food poisoning is caused by chemicals such as arsenic, and plant and sea food.
Miscellaneous food poisoning — This type is caused by contaminated meat, milk and water, under cooked and defrosted poultry, fungi and viruses.
Symptoms
The foremost symptom is vomiting, followed by headache and abdominal pain and nausea. These are followed by signs of dehydration. Stools are frequent and the patient’s body temperature varies between 100°-102° F.
Prevention
To save yourself from a disease such as this, the following precautionary measures should be adopted:
Personal hygiene — Clean food environment and a clean body tend to repel this disease. Washing hands before relishing your meals is a good habit.
Handling food — Poultry should be pasteurized and thoroughly cooked as most germs are killed at 60°C.
Proper refrigeration is necessary. “Cook and eat the same day” is a golden rule. People suffering from infections, injuries, diarrhoea, etc. should avoid handling food.
Treatment
Food poisoning is usually a tough experience for the patient. The patient should increase fluid intake. Mustering up his courage, he should drag himself to the nearest doctor.
Examination of the blood, stool and vomit helps the doctor to determine the type of food poisoning, and he can administer treatment accordingly. After reassuring the patient that God willing he will get alright, the doctor prescribes antibiotics. However, there is just one positive thing about this whole scenario and that is, “Bed Rest!”
Take care of yourself, as health is the greatest blessing of Allah.
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