Mother Nature is mysterious; at times it is benevolent like real mother but some other times it gets as tough as it can get. Life is beautiful and in order to protect it, nature has developed a defence mechanism into all living beings. Some of the living species have developed a defence system, which is vicious enough to prey and kill when needed.
Generally speaking everybody is scared of spiders and poisonous snakes, but little do they know that there are beautiful looking plants and flowers that can be as poisonous as snakes or spiders, it is reported that there are more than 100,000 people who get affected by poisonous plants every year. Following are some of the most dangerous plants that you need to stay away from.
1. Wisteria
These are beautiful looking purple flowers that originate from Japan, some parts of USA and China. The Wisteria trees are strong enough and can get as tall as 30 ft. and have a circumference as large as 60 ft. While the flowers on it look quite charming, it is believed that whole plant is quite toxic; consuming any part of the shrub can cause the following:
Headache
Nausea
Fever and diarrhoea.
The medication however is simple and you will be fine taking some anti-nausea medication.
2. Rosary Pea
This is a perennial plant that usually twins around trees to a height of 20 ft. The plant is characterized by 1.5 inch long pods that are pea-shaped and they normally split open to reveal red seeds. The plant’s seeds are extremely toxic. Actually, a single seed can produce adequate poison to kill a human. The seeds produce abrin, which is among the most powerful poisons known to man. Symptoms of poisoning include:
Fever
Gastrointestinal upset
Hyper-excitability
Diarrhoea, colic, salivation and vomiting.
3. Oleander
This is a Phanerophyte shrub that with a stem that grows up to 13 ft. The plant’s flowers are calyx densely glandular in the inside and the pods are reddish-brown. The plant is distributed in the following areas: deserts and extreme deserts, semi-steppe shrub-lands, shrub-lands and Mediterranean woodlands. The flowers, seeds, leaves, latex, bark and roots are all poisonous. Consumption of any of the stated parts may lead to
Decreased and/or irregular pulse rate
Aberrant colour vision
Drowsiness and fatigue,
Abdominal cramps and vomiting.
4. European Yew
This is one of the oldest trees in Europe. The plant is normally slow growing and they can grow up to 132 ft. tall. The plant’s leaves are dark-green and they are flat and narrow. All sections of the plant are particularly toxic except the aril. The plant’s toxicity increases significantly when dried. Consuming the venomous sections of the plant can cause:
Cardiac arrest
Circulation impairment
Difficulty in breathing
Convulsions, muscle tremors, and accelerated heart rate.
5. Lucky Nut
This is a beautiful evergreen plant that originates from tropical America. The plant grows up to 23 ft. and it flowers all year round. All parts of the shrub are toxic because of the presence of the cardiac glucosides, which the body selectively concentrates in the heart muscle. Of all the parts, the seed kernels are known to contain the highest concentration of poisons. The ingestion of the plant parts causes:
Numb burning in the mouth as well as throat
Diarrhoea, vomiting, and abdominal pain,
Dizziness and dilated pupils
Irregular heartbeat and heart failure.
These are dark-blue flowers with straight and tall stems. The plant itself originates from the mountainous areas of Europe, such as Switzerland. The plant favours moist environments of the alpine meadows. The most poisonous sections of the plant are the roots, particularly the roots of the European Aconitum napellus. Victims of this plant’s poison do present a combination of gastro-intestinal, cardiovascular and neurological effects. General symptoms include:
Muscle weakness and numbness of the face
Ventricular ectopic and sinus tachycardia
Abdominal and chest pain
Vomiting and hypotension to mention a few.
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6. Aconite
These are dark-blue flowers with straight and tall stems. The plant itself originates from the mountainous areas of Europe, such as Switzerland. The plant favours moist environments of the alpine meadows. The most poisonous sections of the plant are the roots, particularly the roots of the European Aconitum napellus. Victims of this plant’s poison do present a combination of gastro-intestinal, cardiovascular and neurological effects. General symptoms include:
Muscle weakness and numbness of the face
Ventricular ectopic and sinus tachycardia
Abdominal and chest pain
Vomiting and hypotension to mention a few.
7. Castor Bean
The castor bean plant originates from East and Northeast Africa to the Middle East. The plant grows from 3 to 30 ft. tall. The plant has distinctive leaves, which are usually 4 to 30 inches wide. The round fruit is covered with soft bristles with tick-shaped seeds referred to as beans. The seed coats contain lethal toxin referred to as ricin, which is one of the most poisonous compounds known to man. Ingestion of the poisonous parts causes:
Severe bleeding lesions in the intestines and stomach
Severe bleeding lesions in the oesophagus and mouth.
8. Cestrum
These are small shrubs and trees that originate from Central and South America. The plant bears greenish white flowers and white berries. When unripe, the plant’s berries produce solanine. The above mentioned release damages the lining of the digestive tract and depresses the central nervous system when ingested. Solanine poisoning causes:
Diarrhoea, headache, vomiting and nausea.
Hallucinations and disorientation
Irritability, restlessness, and reddening of the face.
9. Chinaberry
The Chinaberry originates from tropical Asia. The plant grows up to 60 ft. tall with wide spreading branches. The fruits are golden ½ inch balls, which hang from the plant throughout the fall and winter. The seeds normally taste sour and nauseating. All parts of the plant alkaloids. The plant contain unknown toxin that damages the human digestive system when any part of the plant is ingested. The fruit is predominantly poisonous, but the roots, flowers, bark and leaves are potentially toxic. When ingested, the poison causes:
Diarrhoea
Abdominal pain
And intense vomiting.
As poisoning progress, the victim may experience dilated pupils, and may be unable to talk.
10. Hemlock
annkelliott / Flickr
This plant is a member of the parsley family and it grows to a height of 2 to 6 ft. The plant mostly grows in moist waste areas and has a root stalk that resembles a sweet potato. The stem is hollow and coarsely spotted with red splashing. The leaves are large and wide spreading. The flowers and leaves of the plant can easily be mistaken for those of carrots and parsnips. When ingested, poison hemlock can cause:
Excessive salivation
Nervousness, weak pulse, dilated pupils, tremors, weakness and headache
Diarrhoea, vomiting, nausea, and abdominal pain.
In Conclusion
Many poisonous plants look like their edible counterparts. For instance, poison hemlock appears similar to wild carrot. Your best chance of avoiding poisonous plants is to be able to identify such plants with absolute certainty by using the aforementioned information.
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1. Take responsibility for your health.
Cardiovascular disease is the major cause of death in America, accounting for 34 percent of deaths, many suddenly and almost all of them premature. This is down from 40 percent just four decades ago, mainly due to treatment of common risk factors. If you have diabetes, your risk increases dramatically. The best prevention against heart disease and stroke is to understand the risks and treatment options. The greatest risk is ignorance or misinformation. The first step is to take responsibility for your health.
2. Know your risks.
The most influential risk factor for cardiovascular disease is age – the older you are, the greater your risk. The second is your genetic make-up. Although everyone is excited by the scientific progress in genomics research, conclusive gene tests are still in their infancy. But, as I tell our medical students, “A good family history is a poor man’s gene test.” We have long known that if your parents, grandparents, or other relatives were afflicted with or died of heart disease, diabetes or stroke, your risk is much greater.
3. Don’t smoke or expose yourself to second-hand smoke.
The evidence is overwhelming that cigarette smoking and second-hand exposure to smoke increases the risks of heart disease, lung disease, peripheral vascular disease and stroke.
4. Maintain a healthy blood pressure.
High blood pressure, called hypertension, is known as “the silent killer” as it goes without symptoms in most individuals. High blood pressure causes wear and tear of the delicate inner lining of your blood vessels. The higher your blood pressure (BP) the greater your risk. The risk begins to increase from a pressure of 115/70 mmHg and doubles for each 10 mmHg increase in systolic (the larger number) and 5 mmHg increase in the diastolic (the smaller number). Heredity and increasing age raise the risks. Measuring blood pressures at home reflects more accurately your risk than having the blood pressure taken at a physician’s office. It is worth the investment to get a cuffmeter.
It is best not to rely only on the readings at your doctor’s office as some individuals suffer from “white coat” hypertension – their BP is up only when they are at the doctor’s office. Others have “masked” hypertension – higher when not in the doctor’s office. Prognosis is best related to home BP. But for home blood pressure readings, you should not use finger or wrist units – only regular upper arm units.
5. Monitor your cholesterol (blood lipids).
Abnormal or high blood lipids (fats) are a major contributor to cardiovascular disease. Your blood lipids include the LDL (bad cholesterol; remember as “Lousy cholesterol”), HDL (good cholesterol; remember as “Healthy cholesterol”) and triglycerides. The lower your LDL and the higher your HDL, the better your prognosis. The amount of cholesterol in your blood is determined mainly by three factors: the amount produced by the liver (this is largely genetic), the amount absorbed from the intestinal tract (some from what you eat, but a lot more from cholesterol produced by the liver and excreted into the digestive tract) and, finally, age – your cholesterol increases with age. If you are at risk, medication is almost always necessary to lower the LDL or to raise your HDL. The ideal ratio of total cholesterol divided by HDL cholesterol is 3.0. If higher, you might need diet as therapy. The problem with diet is that, in general, it can only decrease total blood cholesterol by about 10 percent. If you have a strong family history or elevated Lp(a) (a rare abnormal cholesterol that increases the risk), drug therapy is usually needed.
6. Limit your calories.
Fad diets do not work. If any of them did, we all would be on THAT one, wouldn’t we? The obesity rate in Americans is alarming, contributing to a near epidemic of diabetes, which is a cardiovascular disease. If you have diabetes, your risk is the same as someone who already had a heart attack. Obesity is caused by consuming more calories than your body burns. Abdominal obesity is the major risk. Portion sizes and the amount of sugars in the American diet have dramatically increased over the past few decades. At the same time, the daily amount of exercise has been decreasing. It is good advice to “drink slim” (water, tea, coffee). Use portion control before you start eating and push away from the table before you are “full.” (Read Dr. Charles Katzenberg's One-Page Guide to a Heart-Healthy Diet.)
7. Make exercise a daily habit.
The lack of exercise is contributing to the obesity epidemic in Americans. Studies indicate that walking two miles a day is optimal for overall health, and those two miles of walking do not have to be done all at once. Exercise does more than burn calories; it also activates genes that are beneficial to health in other ways. Plus, exercise is one of the best treatments for depression and anxiety. However, exercise alone cannot control or reduce your weight – you must also modify your diet.
8. Pick your pills wisely.
There is a great interest in alternative medicine and understandably so, because patients want to be empowered to take responsibility for their own health. However, many take alternative medicines because of the way they are marketed. The mere fact that a substance is “natural” does not prove its health benefit. After all, nobody in their right mind would take arsenic simply because it is “natural.” It is important to know that research data are often lacking for alternative medications, supplements and vitamins, none of which are regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Do we ever prescribe alternative medicines? On occasion we do! The major risk with many alternative medications is that the patient thinks they are doing something to improve health, when in fact they are not. Although some vitamins have been shown to possibly help some conditions, to date none have been shown to decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease. There are some rare exceptions, such as fish oils and niacin (vitamin B). It is also important to note that high doses of some vitamins may interfere or counteract the beneficial effects of some prescription drugs.
9. Reduce stress.
Stress contributes to cardiovascular disease and, if severe, can cause a heart attack or sudden death. There are plenty of options that help reduce stress, such as regular exercise, adequate sleep, striving for a good marriage, laughing, volunteering or attending religious services. Watching TV generally does not relieve, but can aggravate stress. Also, try to avoid situations and people who make you anxious or angry.
10. Stay informed: Science changes constantly.
The only constant is change. This is especially true in medicine as new techniques and new insights develop constantly. Do not believe every piece of “scientific information” you find in the media or advertisements. An overwhelming number of research studies that make it into scientific publications are poorly designed or yield data that are not representative, e.g., due to a lack of a sufficient number of participants. Keep in mind that many studies are financed or sponsored by individuals or companies with a vested interest in gaining favorable results. The situation can be especially confusing when scientific studies yield different or even contradicting results, and this happens quite often. (Read "Five Ways to Reduce Heart Attack Risk by 80 Percent.")
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With guys, weight gain—and loss—is all about the gut.
Men are genetically predisposed to carry any excess weight in their abdomens, says Brian Quebbemann, M.D., a bariatric surgeon with the Chapman Medical Center in California and president of The N.E.W. Program. And unfortunately, unlike fat in your butt, neck, and thighs, abdominal fat isn’t limited to subcutaneous, just-below-the-skin fat. Belly fat exists all the way down to and around your organs.
“This visceral fat is directly correlated with multiple medical problems including diabetes, coronary artery disease, hypertension, sleep apnea, and a shorter life expectancy,” says Quebbemann.
Add all of that to the simple fact that guts just aren’t sexy and, yeah, you have plenty of reason to get rid of yours for good. Luckily, all of these science-approved tips don’t just fight fat—they fight belly fat.
1. Lift weights
“Abdominal fat is more metabolically active than peripheral body fat,” Quebbemann says. “That means that when you exercise, you’ll disproportionately lose more abdominal than peripheral fat.” And while any exercise will help you lose weight, strength training reduces body fat better than steady-state cardio, according to 2015 research from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
2. Eat the right fats
Saturated fat, bad. Unsaturated fat, good. In one 2014 Diabetes study, when people ate an extra 750 calories from fat every day for seven weeks, those who loaded up on saturated fat gained more visceral fat while those who ate polyunsaturated fat gained less fat and more lean muscle.
3. Befriend fiber
Fiber does more than get things moving. In one 2012 Obesity study, people who simply increased their daily intake of soluble fiber by 10 grams reduced their visceral fat by 3.7 percent over the course of five years. To get more soluble fiber, Quebbemann suggests reaching for fruit, beans, and oats.
4. Get more sleep
Less sleep, more belly. Sleeping five hours or less per night increases people’s visceral fat levels, according to research from Wake Forest University. One reason: Because skipping out on sleep results in higher levels of fat-promoting stress hormones such as cortisol, he says.
5. Drink…in moderation
When it comes to alcohol, there’s a definite sweet spot. According to research from the University at Buffalo, people who drink less than once a week—but more than four drinks at a time—have larger beer guts than guys who drink more often, but less during each sitting. It turns out, in moderation (aim for no more than two drinks per day), alcohol consumption may actually be linked to less inflammation and smaller stomachs.
6. Eat more protein
Apart from keeping your blood sugar levels stable and your stomach feeling full, protein may alter how your body stores fat. In one 2014 study of high-calorie diets, those who got their excess calories from protein stored 45 percent of them as muscle, while those on low-protein diets stored 95 percent of the excess calories as fat.
7. Replace refined grains with whole ones
“Sugar and refined carbohydrates push up your blood sugar, subsequently increasing your insulin secretions and forcing calories to be deposited as fat,” Quebbemann says. “The first place this fat is deposited in men is in the belly.” In fact, an American Journal of Clinical Nutrition study found that guys who eat refined grains have more visceral fat and larger waistlines than those who eat whole ones.
8. Ditch diet soda
If you haven’t gotten the memo by now, no soda is safe. In fact, drinking two diet sodas a day is linked to a five-fold increase in people’s waist measurements, per research from the University of Texas. While researchers aren’t exactly sure why, previous research suggests that artificial sweeteners may trick the body into overeating, according to the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
9. Eat more C
Vitamin C can do more than fend off colds. According to research published in The Journal of Nutrition, people who get the most C have the smallest waists. It may because it reduces inflammation in the body. But don’t limit yourself to oranges. Red bell peppers, spinach, and strawberries all have a good amount of the nutrient.
10. Drink tea
Green tea shouldn’t get all of the glory. In a 2014 study published in The Journal of Nutrition, polyphenols from green, black, and oolong teas may reduce inflammation as well as fat accumulation around the stomach.
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