Magnesium as toxic shock key.Magnesium as toxic shock key Harvard University Harvard University, mainly at Cambridge, Mass., including Harvard College, the oldest American college. Harvard College Harvard College, originally for men, was founded in 1636 with a grant from the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. researchers report that magnesium may explain the connection between toxic shock and tampons. Some strains of the ubiquitous bacteria Staphylococcus aureus Staphylococcus au·re·us n. A bacterium that causes furunculosis, pyemia, osteomyelitis, suppuration of wounds, and food poisoning. Staphylococcus aureus Staphylococcus pyogenes produce a toxin responsible for toxic shock. The condition is marked by fever, shock and a skin rash on the hands and feet. In some people the condition can be fatal, but 95 percent of people have antibodies to the toxin and are immune to its effects. The scientists tried to grow a toxin-producing strain in different media and found that it thrived in the presence of polyester foam, a constituent of the no-longer-marketed Rely brand of tampon tampon /tam·pon/ (tam´pon) [Fr.] a pack, pad, or plug made of cotton, sponge, or other material, variously used in surgery to plug the nose, vagina, etc., for the control of hemorrhage or the absorption of secretions. . Little toxin was produced in the presence of other tampon materials, including cotton, viscose rayon viscose rayon n. A rayon made by reconverting cellulose from a soluble xanthate form to tough fibers by washing in acid. Noun 1. and polyacrylate rayon, the last another highly absorbent absorbent /ab·sor·bent/ (-sor´bent) 1. able to take in, or suck up and incorporate. 2. a tissue structure involved in absorption. 3. a substance that absorbs or promotes absorption. material suspected of being a factor in toxic shock. Further investigation showed that both the polyacrylate rayon and the polyester foam latch onto magnesium from the body-- with the foam a better binder--and that the bacteria produce more toxin in a low-magnesium environment. They conclude that in the vagina the two superabsorbent materials, which are no longer included in tampons, create a low-magnesium environment that promotes toxin production. |
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