Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey brain
Speaker 1: Stuff Lauren Vogelbon here. Every year, somewhere from ten to
Speaker 1: fifty million Americans experience an allergic reaction to poison ivy,
Speaker 1: the plant, not the Batman character named after it. The
Speaker 1: plant is often difficult to spot because it closely resembles
Speaker 1: common garden plants and other weeds both here and wherever
Speaker 1: it grows. But if you come into contact with it,
Speaker 1: you'll probably know because an itchy, blistery rash is likely
Speaker 1: to form on your skin. There are a few different
Speaker 1: species of poison ivy in the genus Toxicodendron. They occur
Speaker 1: in ranges from Canada down through Central America, in parts
Speaker 1: of the Caribbean, and in parts of East Asia. The
Speaker 1: culprit behind the rash is an allergic reaction with a
Speaker 1: compound that occurs in the sap of the plant called
Speaker 1: arustial Ivy is in the sumac family and a cardiassia
Speaker 1: and arushiol is, the same compound responsible for the rashes
Speaker 1: some people get from other plants in the family, like
Speaker 1: poison sumac, poison oak, mango skin, and cashew fruit. The
Speaker 1: name erusiol comes from the Japanese word urushi referring to
Speaker 1: lacquer or the lacquer tree, because in East Asia, a
Speaker 1: type of tree in the same genus as poison ivy
Speaker 1: has sap, containing the same allergen that has been carefully
Speaker 1: processed to create beautiful lacquerware for thousands of years. But
Speaker 1: aside from mango, cashew, and urushi, and many plants that
Speaker 1: contain erushiol are considered pests because about eighty five percent
Speaker 1: of people are allergic to the compound, and only a
Speaker 1: tiny amount a one billionth of a gram is enough
Speaker 1: to cause a rash in many people. Sometimes the allergy
Speaker 1: doesn't emerge until you've been exposed several times, though some
Speaker 1: people develop a rash after their very first contact, and
Speaker 1: it can take anywhere from a few hours to up
Speaker 1: to ten days for the rash to emerge. The poison
Speaker 1: ivy rash often looks like red lines and sometimes causes blisters.
Speaker 1: Many people get it when they're hiking in the woods
Speaker 1: or working in their garden and accidentally come into direct
Speaker 1: contact with the plants leaves, roots, or stems. Because urushiol
Speaker 1: is found in all parts of the poison ivy plant,
Speaker 1: it's best to avoid the plant entirely when you can.
Speaker 1: It generally grows in a cluster of low weed like
Speaker 1: plants or a woody vine that can climb trees or fences,
Speaker 1: and is most often found in moist areas like riverbanks,
Speaker 1: woods and pastures. The general rule to identify poison ivy
Speaker 1: is leaves of three. Let it be because it usually
Speaker 1: grows in groups of three oval leaves with a longer
Speaker 1: middle leaf, but it can also grow with up to
Speaker 1: nine leaves in a group. The edges of the leaves
Speaker 1: can be smooth or have tiny teeth. Their color changes
Speaker 1: based on the season, reddish in the spring, green in
Speaker 1: the summer, and yellow orange or red in the fall.
Speaker 1: It blooms with yellow green flowers around early summer, and
Speaker 1: its small berries are typically white. A note that different
Speaker 1: varieties and other plants containing rouchiol look different. It's always
Speaker 1: a good idea to do a quick search on hazardous
Speaker 1: plants in your area before going hiking or cleaning out
Speaker 1: overgrowth in your yard. A note that I said hazardous
Speaker 1: there instead of poisonous, because despite poison ivy's name, the
Speaker 1: rash it causes is again an allergic reaction. Allergies are
Speaker 1: what happens when your immune system overreacts to the presence
Speaker 1: of an essentially harmless substance like flower pollen or cat'sliva,
Speaker 1: which they transfer to their dander via washing. Okay, the
Speaker 1: body's immune system is in the business of protecting us
Speaker 1: from antigens like bacteria, viruses, and other foreign invaders that
Speaker 1: can make us sick. But when allergens like eruchiol coming
Speaker 1: contact with us through our skin or maybe im mucous membrane,
Speaker 1: they also instigate an immune response. Here's how the poison
Speaker 1: ivy response works. Eruchiol makes its way down through the skin,
Speaker 1: where it's metabolized or broken down. Immune cells called T
Speaker 1: cells recognize the derivatives as an antigen. They send out
Speaker 1: inflammatory signals called cytokines, which bring in white blood cells.
Speaker 1: Under orders from the cytokines, these white blood cells turn
Speaker 1: into macrophages. The macrophages eat foreign substances, but in doing
Speaker 1: so they also damage normal tissue. So in places where
Speaker 1: your skin has come into contact with poison ivy, within
Speaker 1: one to two days, you might develop a rash, which
Speaker 1: will usually itch, reden, burn, swell, and form blisters. The
Speaker 1: rash may appear sooner in some parts of the body
Speaker 1: than others, but that doesn't mean it's spreading. The eruchiol
Speaker 1: just absorbs into the skin at different rates. For example,
Speaker 1: think of how the soles of your feet have thicker
Speaker 1: skin than your arms. The rash should go away within
Speaker 1: a week or so. The severity often has to do
Speaker 1: with how much erutiol you've been exposed to. Definitely seek
Speaker 1: emergency medical help right away if you have signs of
Speaker 1: a severe allergic reaction like difficulty breathing, dizziness or weakness,
Speaker 1: or bluish lips, but also contact a medical professional if
Speaker 1: the rash pops up in sensitive areas like the eyes, mouth,
Speaker 1: they're genitals. If it doesn't heal after two weeks, or
Speaker 1: if you have signs of an infection like puffs around
Speaker 1: the rash or a fever over one hundred degrees fahrenheit
Speaker 1: or a thirty seven to seven celsius. The quicker you
Speaker 1: treat a brush with poison IVY, the greater the odds
Speaker 1: that you can remove at least some of the erutiol
Speaker 1: before it gets into your skin, thus possibly warding off
Speaker 1: a reaction. As soon as you notice that you've touched
Speaker 1: or possibly touched poison ivy or related plants, Rinse off
Speaker 1: your skin immediately with water. Rinsing within the first five
Speaker 1: minutes of contact is most effective. Then as soon as
Speaker 1: you can remove all clothes that have come in contact
Speaker 1: with the plant and wash your skin with soap and
Speaker 1: cool water. Then, using a preferably disposable item like a
Speaker 1: cotton ball, cleanse the affected areas of your skin with
Speaker 1: isoproble alcohol aka rubbing alcohol. You'll want to wash those
Speaker 1: clothes and any wash cloths or tells you use with
Speaker 1: soap and water before using them again. When the rash appears,
Speaker 1: you'll most likely be very itchy, but try not to scratch.
Speaker 1: Although breaking the blisters by scratching cannot spread the rash,
Speaker 1: bacteria can get in through the broken skin and cause
Speaker 1: an infection. Along those lines, remember that a poison ivy
Speaker 1: rash is not contagious. By the time a rash has formed,
Speaker 1: the your shiol that caused it is long gone from
Speaker 1: your skin. To ease the discomfort, you can use wet
Speaker 1: compresses or soak the affected areas in cool water. You
Speaker 1: can also apply a topical corticosteroid or take an over
Speaker 1: the counter any histamine like Benadrell prescription cordzone can stop
Speaker 1: the reaction, but only if it's taken soon after exposure.
Speaker 1: Other topical products that can soothe itching are calamine lotion,
Speaker 1: zinc oxide ointment, baking soda paste made of three teaspoons
Speaker 1: baking soda and one teaspoon water, or an oatmeal bath.
Speaker 1: Even if you're looking out for it, poison ivy can
Speaker 1: be difficult to avoid even if you don't directly brush
Speaker 1: up against the plant. You can get it from touching
Speaker 1: a garden tool, a toy or sports equipment that's touched
Speaker 1: the plant anytime in the past few years, or even
Speaker 1: from a pet that's brushed up against one. Dogs and
Speaker 1: cats don't have the same sensitivity to erusiol, so if
Speaker 1: they've been outside, especially on supervised, you might not realize
Speaker 1: that they're carrying it until you develop a rash. Some
Speaker 1: creams containing the ingredient bentoquatum can block erushiol and offer
Speaker 1: some part before poison ivy exposure, but still your best
Speaker 1: defense is to stay away when you can and get
Speaker 1: rid of it in your yard. But it's also not
Speaker 1: an easy foe to clear. A weed killer isn't the
Speaker 1: best option for the environment or other plants around the
Speaker 1: poison ivy. If you remove it by hand, be sure
Speaker 1: to pull the whole plant out by the roots or
Speaker 1: it'll regrow. Remove any dead poison ivy as well. Again.
Speaker 1: Eruchiol can linger for several years. Wear a long sleeved shirt,
Speaker 1: long pants, gloves, and boots to avoid any contact with
Speaker 1: your skin. Immediately remove your clothes after you finish and
Speaker 1: wash them with soap and water, and take a shower
Speaker 1: for good measure. Never burn poison ivy plants. The eruchiol
Speaker 1: vaporizes when heated, and when it gets into the smoke
Speaker 1: it can severely irritate the lungs if breathed in. Also,
Speaker 1: never eat poison ivy. There's a myth out there that
Speaker 1: doing so can make you immune to rashes in the future,
Speaker 1: but a that does not work and be you could
Speaker 1: cause a potentially fatal allergic reaction. Getting outside into nature
Speaker 1: is great, but nature is weird. Be careful out there.
Speaker 1: Today's episode is based on the article how poisonivy works
Speaker 1: on how Stiff works dot com, written by Stephanie Wilson.
Speaker 1: Brain Stuff is production of iHeartRadio in partnership with Hosseifforks
Speaker 1: dot Com and is produced by Tyler Klang. Four more
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