poisoning

Poisoning is the harm done when a body is exposed to a toxic dose of some substance — a drug, a household chemical, a pesticide, a plant, a gas, or an environmental contaminant. It is toxicity made real in a person: the substance's capacity to harm has actually been delivered in a harmful amount.

Exposure can occur by many routes — swallowing, breathing in, skin or eye contact, injection, or a bite or sting — and the route shapes both the speed and the pattern of harm. Poisoning may be acute, from a single large exposure, or chronic, from slow accumulation, as with long-term lead or arsenic exposure.

Clinically, poisons often produce recognisable clusters of signs called toxidromes, which point toward a class of culprit: pinpoint pupils, drowsiness, and slow breathing suggest opioids; dry skin, dilated pupils, fever, and agitation suggest anticholinergics; sweating, salivation, and small pupils suggest cholinergic excess from organophosphates. Recognising the pattern guides treatment even before a substance is identified.

Management mirrors overdose care: stabilise vital functions first, decontaminate when useful, give a specific antidote if one exists, and otherwise support the patient. Poison control centres exist precisely because identifying the agent and the right response quickly can be the difference between recovery and disaster.