Poison

Poison VS. Venom

Poisons are absorbed. They can be absorbed through the air by going into the lungs or they can be digested and absorbed through the stomach and digestional tract. Venom must be injected. This can happened through biting, stinging, or slashing. There are different types of venom that cause different reactions. A spider or Australian Box Jellyfish are examples of venomous animals. Perhaps one of the most infamous critters around the USA is the rattlesnake. Plants, fungi, or animals that need to be digested to cause harm are poisonous. The Bracken fern and the Destroying Angel are both examples of this.

 

Bracken ferns contain ptalquiloside. This is the toxic agent that causes enormous problems. Humans eating young bracken fern fiddleheads can lead to severe leukopenia and  thrombocytopenia. Animals who grazed on Bracken fern or were feed it developed bladder and intestinal tumors. Researchers took Bracken fern from north of Iran. Then, they took rats and divided them into five groups: four groups got a Bracken fern treatment and one group was the control. The data was very clear that Bracken fern causes lesions on the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain. The article also stated that the underground stems are the most toxic part of the fern and next comes the younger green fronds. Thiamine deficiency made animals more susceptible to bracken fern. This causes problems for farm animals because they often don’t have a varied diet and this causes thiamine deficiency. In Iran this affects sheep. In Chile and England this affects cows.

 

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