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Antidote



Part of a series on
Toxicology and poison
Toxicology (Forensic) - Toxinology
History of poison
(ICD-10 T36-T65, ICD-9 960-989)
Concepts
Poison - Venom - Toxicant - Antidote
Acceptable daily intake - Acute toxicity
Bioaccumulation - Biomagnification
Fixed Dose Procedure - LD50 - Lethal dose
Toxic capacity - Toxicity Class
Toxins and venoms
Neurotoxin - Necrotoxin - Hemotoxin
Mycotoxin - Aflatoxin - Phototoxin
List of fictional toxins
Incidents
Bradford - Minamata - Niigata
Alexander Litvinenko - Bhopal
2007 pet food recalls
List of poisonings
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Elements
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Shellfish (Paralytic - Diarrheal - Neurologic
Amnesic)
- Ciguatera - Scombroid
Tetrodotoxin
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Pesticide - Organophosphate - Food
Nicotine - Theobromine - Carbon monoxide - Vitamin - Medicines
Living organisms
Mushrooms - Plants - Animals
Related topics
Hazard symbol - Carcinogen
Mutagen - List of Extremely Hazardous Substances - Biological warfare

An antidote is a substance which can counteract a form of poisoning.

Sometimes, the antidote for a particular toxin is manufactured by injecting the toxin into an animal in small doses and the resulting antibodies are extracted from the animals' blood. The venom produced by some snakes, spiders, and other venomous animals is often treatable by the use of these antivenoms, although a number do lack one, and a bite or sting from such an animal often results in death. Some animal venoms, especially those produced by arthropods (e.g. certain spiders, scorpions, bees, etc.) are only potentially lethal when they provoke allergic reactions and induce anaphylactic shock; as such, there is no "antidote" for these venoms because it is not a form of poisoning, though anaphylactic shock can be treated (e.g., by the use of epinephrine).

Some other toxins have no known antidote. For example, the poison ricin, which is produced from the waste byproduct of castor oil manufacture, has no antidote, and as a result is often fatal if it enters the human body in sufficient quantities.

Ingested poisons are frequently treated by the oral administration of activated charcoal, which absorbs the poison, and then it is flushed from the digestive tract, removing a large part of the toxin.

Poisons which are injected into the body (such as those from bites or stings from venomous animals) are usually treated by the use of a constriction band which limits the flow of lymph and/or blood to the area, thus slowing circulation of the poison around the body.

Poison and toxic signs

See also

  • snakebite
  • tourniquet
 
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Antidote". A list of authors is available in Wikipedia.
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