The poisons that lurk in most households

THE

standard advice on losing weight is simply to eat less. The body’s fat stores are, in fact, surplus energy that a person has accumulated by eating too many calories.

“So basically it’s not wrong to eat less, but starving down the body’s metabolism won’t bring lasting results,” according to Ingo Froboese, a professor at the Health Centre of the German Sport University in Cologne.

“Although the body loses weight within a few days, most of it is water.” Muscle-building and endurance training are a better way to lose weight.

As Froboese explained, when a person goes on a diet, the body draws on its energy reserves to sustain itself.

If calorie intake is increased again, the body remembers the shortage it has just withstood and stores additional reserves for future shortages — “the yoyo effect occurs,” he said.

“A negative energy balance is the key to losing weight,” Froboese remarked. In other words, more calories must be burned than are taken in. This can be achieved with muscle-building training.

“Since muscles consume energy, muscle-building training — and consequently a higher proportion of muscle in the body — is one of the building blocks for a lasting increase in energy turnover,” he said.

For a long-term reduction of body weight, lowintensity endurance training of 30 to 60 minutes — depending on the person’s level of conditioning — is the most effective form of activity. — dpa

THE average home contains more poisons than most people realise. They are to be found in cleaning materials and toxic plants, in the medicine chest and the drinks cabinet and even in food that has gone off.

Emergency rooms are constantly confronted by the elderly lady with the failing eyesight who has used her nail varnish remover as a mouthwash, the small child who has swallowed a couple of “sweets” from mum’s store of medicines or the teenager easing a broken heart by resorting to dad’s favourite drink.

“We have to deal with a wide range of poisoning cases every day, and a large part of them take place in the home environment,” says Daniela Acquarone of the emergency call centre in Berlin.

“If you want to be precise, nothing is harmless. Every substance can be poisonous in the right dose, even water,” according to Peter Sefrin of the association of German emergency doctors. Drinking too much water in a brief space of time can disrupt essential salt levels in the body and even lead to death in extreme cases.

Water poisoning is a tiny part of the 200,000 cases of poisoning in Germany each year. Much the same is true for cases of snakebite and mushroom poisoning. Poisoning resulting from food, exhaust gases and alcohol are much more common, along with accidents linked to household cleaning materials, toiletries and the like.

“These often result in poisoning, especially among children, because they see them as ready to eat or drink as a result of their appearance or smell,” says Thomas Zilker, a professor of toxicology at Munich’s Technical University.

The seriousness and danger associated with a case of poisoning depends on a number of factors, including the nature of the substance, the dosage and the length of time that the victim has been exposed to it. A person’s physical constitution and the way the substance has been absorbed by the victim also play a role.

“For example, it is less dangerous for a small child to eat a cigarette than for it to drink liquid in which cigarette butts have been soaking overnight,” Acquarone says, explaining that the nicotine — a strong poison — is then in dissolved form and can be absorbed more easily.

“Depending on the nature of the poison and the way it has been absorbed, any organ in the body can be affected and harmed,” Sefrin says.