Mercury poisoning
Appearance
Mercury poisoning | |
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Other names | Mercury toxicity, mercury overdose, mercury intoxication, hydrargyria, mercurialism |
The bulb of a mercury-in-glass thermometer | |
Medical specialty | Toxicology |
Symptoms | Muscle weakness, poor coordination, numbness in the hands and feet[1] |
Complications | Kidney problems, decreased intelligence[2] |
Causes | Exposure to mercury[1] |
Risk factors | Consumption of fish, which may contain mercury[3] |
Diagnostic method | Difficult[3] |
Prevention | Decreasing use of mercury, low mercury diet[4] |
Medication | Acute poisoning: dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA), dimercaptopropane sulfonate (DMPS)[5] |
Mercury poisoning is a health disturbance caused by high levels of exposure to mercury.
Symptoms of mercury poisoning include pink colour in the cheeks, fingertips, and toes, swelling, unexplainable sweating, lots of saliva, fast heartbeat (tachycardia), high blood pressure (hypertension) and hair loss for some people. Mercury exposure happens most often through eating certain types of fish or via other ways.
References
[change | change source]- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Cite error: The named reference
NIH2016
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Bos2010
was used but no text was provided for refs named (see the help page). - ↑ 3.0 3.1 Cite error: The named reference
Ber2012
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WHO2016
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Kos2013
was used but no text was provided for refs named (see the help page).