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Food Poisoning
February 20, 2008 |
Food poisoning can happen to anyone at any time. Stephanie Thorpe recently had a
serious case of food poisoning after dining out. “I went out to eat and I got
home and about an hour later I was feeling it. I had the worst stomach cramps I
ever felt. I was vomiting non-stop. It was one of the worst experiences I’ve
ever had.” In fact the symptoms can get so painful for some patients that they
end up in the emergency room. Dr. Larry Hobbs is the director of emergency
medicine at Southwest Florida Regional Medical Center. He says, “We see a lot of
folks who have nausea, vomiting and diarrhea and they swear it’s got to be food
poisoning and a lot of times it is due to virus and a lot of times it’s due to
food intolerance.” If you are feeling symptoms that could be related to food
poisoning but aren’t serious you may not need to seek help right away. “If you
think you have a true emergency then you should go to the emergency room. Those
types of things are abdominal pain, chest pain, severe headaches, high fevers,
persistent nausea and vomiting,” says Dr. Hobbs. But when it comes to severe
food poisoning Dr. Hobbs says there is one clear-cut symptom to look out for.
“True food poisoning is usually noted with the hallmark of bloody diarrhea and
that’s due to a bacteria in the food that they ingested that is now within the
body.” Most cases of food poisoning can be treated with antibiotics. Keep foods
properly refrigerated and make sure you cook meet and other foods at the proper
temperature to help prevent food poisoning. Generally the very young and elderly
are more susceptible to food poisoning because their immune systems are weaker. |
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