Health
In Africa, Danger Slithers Through Homes and Fields
Snakes like these are giants. Black mambas can stretch to 14 feet, and the longest king cobra ever recorded was 19 feet.
Puff adders are petite by contrast, as short as six inches and no longer than six feet, but very thick. They have long, retractable fangs that can deliver poison into muscle.
Their venom destroys blood-clotting factors, and victims die slow, gruesome deaths, bleeding in the brain, eyes and mouth.
Identifying the attacker can help tailor treatment. But many people never see the snake that bites them or, if they do, cannot identify it. To the untrained eye, venomous snakes may look indistinguishable from harmless ones.
The names don’t make it any easier. Green mambas are green, but black mambas are pale gray to dark brown; they are so-named because the inside of the mouth is black. They are better recognized by their coffin-shaped head and unnerving smile.
Some scientists are building A.I. models to identify snakes, so that anyone with a smartphone might be able to distinguish them.
About a third of snakebites are in children. They occur less often among pregnant women, but the outcomes — which include spontaneous abortion, ruptured placentas, abruption, fetal malformations and death to both mother and fetus — can be catastrophic.
Often the victims are farmers. The loss of a breadwinner devastates families.
Ruth Munuve’s husband worked as a driver in Nairobi and came home to the family farm every other weekend. He was bitten on a Saturday in April 2020, at age 42, while walking through the brush on his way home from a night out.
Two hospitals scrambling to treat Covid patients turned him away. By the time he died two days later, his body had swelled to double its size, a hallmark of a puff adder bite, said his sister, Esther Nziu.
Ms. Munuve now grows maize and cowpeas, mostly for food, and sells green grams. Ms. Nziu has five children of her own, but she is doing her best to help raise her brother’s four children.
Money is tight, but the women still paid to fortify the house. “I don’t want anybody else to be bitten by snakes,” Ms. Nziu said.
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Eight energy drinks per day may lead to serious health consequences, recent research suggests.
A relatively healthy man in his 50s suffered a stroke from the overconsumption of unnamed energy beverages, according to a scientific paper published in the journal BMJ Case Reports by doctors at Nottingham University Hospitals in the U.K.
The unnamed man was described as “normally fit and well,” but was experiencing left-side weakness, numbness and ataxia, also known as poor coordination or unsteady walking.
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When the man sought medical attention, it was confirmed via MRI that he had suffered an ischemic thalamic stroke, the report stated.
The patient’s blood pressure was high upon admission to the hospital, was lowered during treatment and then rose again after discharge, even though he was taking five medications.
The 50-year-old man (not pictured) admitted to drinking eight energy drinks per day. (iStock)
The man revealed that he consumed eight cans of energy drink per day, each containing 160 mg of caffeine. His caffeine consumption had not been recorded upon admission to the hospital.
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Once the man stopped drinking caffeine, his blood pressure normalized, and he was taken off antihypertensive medications.
High caffeine content can raise blood pressure “substantially,” a doctor confirmed. (iStock)
Based on this case, the authors raised the potential risks associated with energy drinks, especially regarding stroke and cardiovascular disease.
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They also highlighted the importance of “targeted questioning in clinical practice and greater public awareness.”
The authors say this case draws attention to the potential dangers of over-consuming energy drinks. (iStock)
Fox News senior medical analyst Dr. Marc Siegel reacted to the case study in an interview with Fox News Digital.
“This case report illustrates the high risk associated with a large volume of energy drink consumption, especially because of the high caffeine content, which can raise your blood pressure substantially,” said Siegel, who was not involved in the study.
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“In this case, the large amount of caffeine appears to have led directly to very high blood pressure and a thalamic stroke, which is likely a result of that soaring blood pressure.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the case study authors and various energy drink brands for comment.
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