WEBVTT - How Botulism Works

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff from house Stuff Works dot com where

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<v Speaker 1>smart happens. Hi Am Marshall Brain with today's question, how

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<v Speaker 1>does boculi is um work? Have you ever heard someone

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<v Speaker 1>say don't feed honey to babies. It's one of those

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<v Speaker 1>rules that needs more publicity because it's important. But what

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<v Speaker 1>is wrong with honey? It has to do with botuli

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<v Speaker 1>is um. The word boculi is um describes a type

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<v Speaker 1>of poisoning. Boculi is m bacteria create a protein called bachlin,

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<v Speaker 1>which invades excitatory nerve cells where they meet with muscle

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<v Speaker 1>fibers and blocks the junctions so that no signals can

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<v Speaker 1>get through. The result is paralysis, and in severe cases,

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<v Speaker 1>it totally immobilizes and kills the patient. Botulism bacteria are

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<v Speaker 1>common in nature, but they're killed by oxygen. Therefore, the

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<v Speaker 1>bacteria forms spores that protect them from oxygen, and these

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<v Speaker 1>spores activate once they get into oxygen free environments. The

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<v Speaker 1>most common way to get botchuli is um is from

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<v Speaker 1>improperly canned food. Once the can is sealed, it creates

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<v Speaker 1>an oxygen free environment. The can is then heated, and

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<v Speaker 1>if it's heated properly, the spores die If the can

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<v Speaker 1>isn't heated properly, the spores activate inside the sealed can

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<v Speaker 1>and fill it with toxin. Because botch alen is a protein,

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<v Speaker 1>heating will destroy it. But if the canned food is

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<v Speaker 1>eaten cold, botulism occurs. Babies get botulism from honey in

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<v Speaker 1>a different way. Bees naturally collect botuli is um spores

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<v Speaker 1>as they're out collecting nectar, and they mix those spores

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<v Speaker 1>into the honey. Most people can eat these spores without

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<v Speaker 1>any problem because we have robust immune systems that eliminate

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<v Speaker 1>the spores. Infants, on the other hand, do not have

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<v Speaker 1>these defenses yet, so when a baby eats honey, the

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<v Speaker 1>spores find themselves inside the oxygen free intestine of the

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<v Speaker 1>baby and they come to life. They produced the tocsin

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<v Speaker 1>wall inside the baby, and that poisons the baby. Do

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<v Speaker 1>you have any ideas or suggestions for this podcast? If so,

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<v Speaker 1>please send me an email at podcast at how stuff

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<v Speaker 1>works dot com. For more on this and thousands of

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<v Speaker 1>other topics, go to how stuff works dot com.