Poison or Medicine, Can they be both?
In August of 2020 a member of the Russian opposition party, Alexei Navalny was poisoned with a toxic substance in an attempt to take his life. Navalny however survived and is currently in better health than he was. Doctors in Russia initially claimed that no toxic substances could be detected, but when he was airlifted out of Russia to Germany the Doctors there discovered evidence of poisoning from a toxic substance. It took some time to determine exactly what had poisoned Navalny but it was eventually determined that Nerve agents under the umbrella of cholinesterase were used to poison him.
Nerve agents are an interesting group of chemicals which prevents nerves from transferring messages to the rest of the body. In effect, muscles, your lungs and even your heart stop receiving electric pulses telling them to trigger their automatic responses leading to death by asphyxiation or cardiac arrest. This extreme example of a nerve agent doesn’t quite cover the scope of their applications.
In the world of cosmetic medicine a nerve agent is used very often to remove facial wrinkles. Botox or under its scientific name Botulinium Toxin, is a nerve agent which operates the same way as other nerve agents do. Derived from bacteria, This nerve agent is injected into the lower third part of the face disrupting the nerves locally to cause slight paralysis and relaxing the muscles to remove wrinkles.
In all the use of chemicals has always been a double edged sword. Some may cause plenty of harm but some are very helpful and safe to use on a commercial scale.
Thank you for reading and stay safe at home!
Dzaim Dzulkifli
Editor
Beating Hearts
