Word: toxins
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...caused by a toxin-producing strain of the common bacterium, Staphylococcus aureus, carried benignly in the respiratory and genital tracts of perhaps one out of three people. Under certain conditions -- a wound, some infections, the presence of a tampon or contraceptive sponge -- the bacteria multiply. If the toxin-producing strain is present, such proliferation can lead to TSS. The symptoms are dramatic and develop quickly: high fever, a sunburn-like rash, severe vomiting and diarrhea, culminating in shock, in which blood pressure plummets and circulation deteriorates. Doctors usually try to head off this life-threatening condition by administering intravenous fluids...
...Guam, where ALS was once at least 50 times as common as in the continental U.S. Last year Peter Spencer, a neurotoxicologist at New York City's Albert Einstein College of Medicine, offered a solution to the mystery of the Guamanian cases when he traced them to a toxin found in cycad seeds, which the natives used to eat in times of famine. The toxin specifically affects nerve cells, says Spencer, and "exposure may occur decades before the actual onset of the disease...
...Americans have had their blepharospasm symptoms eased by an experimental drug called Oculinum. But now nationwide testing has been halted because the manufacturer says he is no longer able to find an insurance company that will sell him affordable liability coverage. Apparent reason: Oculinum is made from botulinus toxin, the deadly bacterial poison that causes botulism...
...drug, Oculinum, is made from botulinum A toxin, a deadly sub-stance that can poison food, a link that Scott said makes it even harder for him to find insurance...
...cause of the disorder is unclear, but the drug created from the highly potent botulism toxin is the only medication that can give relief to most of the estimated 50,000 patients afflicted in the U.S., Townsend said...