Warning of the risk of liver and kidney failure due to natural mushroom poisoning

Bach Mai Hospital announced that it is continuously receiving and treating patients with severe poisoning due to eating wild mushrooms.

Medical news March 17: Warning of risk of liver and kidney failure due to natural mushroom poisoning

Bach Mai Hospital announced that it is continuously receiving and treating patients with severe poisoning due to eating wild mushrooms.

Warning of the risk of liver and kidney failure due to natural mushroom poisoning

A typical case is a 37-year-old male patient (Tuyen Quang). About 9 days before being admitted to Bach Mai Hospital, the patient and three others went into the forest to pick mushrooms to cook soup. The next morning, three of them showed symptoms such as abdominal pain, dizziness, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

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This patient had additional symptoms of jaundice, yellow eyes and severe fatigue, so he was transferred to the Poison Control Center, Bach Mai Hospital for treatment.

Here, the patient was conscious but had confused speech, showing signs of pre-hepatic coma, with yellow skin and sclera, and poor appetite. Tests showed that the patient had severe liver failure, kidney failure, and serious damage. After 9 days, the patient had lost about 4-5kg.

The second case is a 57-year-old female patient from Bac Kan. On March 11, she picked a handful of white mushrooms in the forest and brought them home to cook soup to eat alone.

After about 13 hours, the patient experienced symptoms of vomiting, abdominal pain, and diarrhea many times. Test results at Bach Mai Hospital showed that the patient had severe hepatitis and acute liver failure, requiring emergency treatment with antidotes and plasma exchange.

Previously, on March 6, the Poison Control Center of Bach Mai Hospital admitted a couple from Thanh Hoa who were poisoned by mushrooms they picked themselves. However, both patients died due to severe multiple organ failure.

Dr. Nguyen Trung Nguyen, Director of the Poison Control Center, Bach Mai Hospital, warned: Natural mushrooms are very difficult to identify with the naked eye, except for wood ear mushrooms. Even experts can make mistakes.

There are thousands of types of mushrooms, of which the number of poisonous mushrooms is not too many but can be easily mistaken for edible mushrooms. Some types of mushrooms, although beautiful to look at, contain toxins such as amatoxin, which can be fatal if eaten.

Dr. Nguyen Trung Nguyen said the main cause of these poisonings is due to people picking wild mushrooms of unknown origin. Poisonous mushrooms are currently divided into two groups: mushrooms that cause early poisoning and mushrooms that cause late poisoning.

Early poisoning mushrooms have symptoms that appear within 6 hours of eating, often with an unappealing appearance or bright colors. Symptoms include vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, and may be accompanied by neurological, psychiatric, and cardiovascular symptoms. However, if treated promptly, most patients will not die.

In contrast, the group of mushrooms that cause late poisoning are usually white, clean and look very delicious. These are poisonous mushrooms such as white umbrella mushrooms (Amanita verna) or poisonous cone mushrooms (Amanita virosa). Symptoms of poisoning appear after 6 hours, divided into three stages: Stage 1: Abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea lasting about 1 day.

Stage 2: Symptoms gradually improve but there are still signs of abdominal pain and diarrhea. Stage 3: Hepatitis, liver failure, kidney failure, multiple organ damage and death.

With the group of mushrooms that cause late poisoning, when symptoms appear, the poison has been absorbed into the body, causing serious damage to the liver and other organs.

With this type of poisoning, the mortality rate is very high, up to 50%, even with emergency intervention and active detoxification. Therefore, to avoid the risk of mushroom poisoning, people should not pick mushrooms in the wild without professional knowledge. Medical facilities recommend carefully learning about mushrooms before using them and only consuming mushrooms that have been confirmed to be safe.

Early detection and optimal treatment of congenital heart defects

Screening for early detection of congenital heart defects in the fetus is one of the important factors to help ensure the best birth conditions for pregnant women, develop an optimal postnatal care plan and be ready to intervene or perform surgery for the child when necessary.

Congenital heart defects are the most common abnormalities in children, affecting approximately 1% of live births. In Vietnam, approximately 8,000-10,000 children are born with congenital heart defects each year. It is estimated that a quarter of these cases are severe heart defects, which are the leading cause of death and illness in children related to congenital abnormalities.

Most fetal heart defects are difficult to diagnose and are easily missed during ultrasound. The frequency of detecting these abnormalities before birth is only about 50%.

The main reason is that the fetus is not in the ideal position to observe the fetal heart and the machine is not optimal. "At week 22 of pregnancy, the fetal heart is only the size of a 5,000 VND coin, very small but the structure is very complex and susceptible to congenital malformations," said Dr. Nguyen.

Therefore, in addition to ultrasound skills, the use of modern ultrasound machines with specialized probes is an important factor that helps doctors best evaluate the fetal heart structure and improve the rate of detecting fetal heart abnormalities before birth.

Fetal heart defects are often associated with other structural or genetic abnormalities (chromosomal abnormalities or gene mutations).

Therefore, when diagnosing fetal heart defects through ultrasound, the doctor will advise additional genetic testing. In cases where the fetus has a heart defect accompanied by other serious abnormalities, termination of pregnancy may be considered. Fetal heart abnormalities can be the first sign that helps the doctor detect gene mutations or other structural abnormalities.

In cases where the fetus only has a simple congenital heart defect, early detection will help the doctor prepare the best birth conditions for the pregnant woman and plan timely care, intervention or surgery for the child immediately after birth, preventing the risk of the disease progressing seriously.

Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Nguyen Vinh, a cardiovascular expert, said that not all children with congenital heart disease need intervention immediately after birth.

Some cases only require intervention when the child grows up. However, when the disease is detected in the fetus, the doctor can predict the disease condition and proactively develop a care and treatment regimen for the child immediately after birth, helping to improve the prognosis.

Ho Chi Minh City: More than 46% of students have refractive errors

According to information from the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health, the rate of students with refractive errors is up to 46.22%, which is the highest rate among current school diseases. In particular, this rate is mainly concentrated in middle and high school students.

This reflects the increase in factors such as academic pressure, excessive use of electronic devices and lack of outdoor activities, which are direct causes of refractive errors in students.

Medical experts warn that if refractive errors are not detected and treated promptly, they will seriously affect students' ability to study and live, even leading to serious vision problems in the future. Therefore, monitoring and adjusting study habits and using electronic devices appropriately is extremely necessary.

In addition to refractive errors, the rate of overweight students is also at an alarming level. Specifically, the rate of overweight students is 20.59%, while obesity accounts for 17.11%.

Notably, this condition occurs not only in middle and high school students but also in preschool and primary school students. The main causes of this condition are improper nutrition and sedentary lifestyle.

Faced with worrying health issues in schools, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health has proposed solutions to improve student health. First of all, it is necessary to raise awareness among students, parents and teachers about school health, especially diseases such as refractive errors, overweight, obesity and tooth decay.

Educational institutions need to ensure physical conditions such as classroom lighting, age-appropriate desks and chairs, gyms and playgrounds to encourage students to participate in physical activities.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/tin-moi-y-te-ngay-173-canh-bao-nguy-co-suy-gan-than-do-ngo-doc-nam-tu-nhien-d255065.html