Today I will touch on a medical topic, yes, but unfortunately although I do not like what some human beings do with these chemicals, it is important to know about it, at least for me. When someone says "chemical weapon" in the news there are those who are not very clear about what this means, but it is something terrible that human beings have created for this purpose, in the case of chemicals that are used for these purposes, or at least, that have been used, there is the well-known Sarin, and it is specifically about this that I want to talk about in this publication.
Man uses technology and chemicals not only for the benefit of mankind but for macabre purposes, for example, nuclear energy is good, but using it in an Atomic Bomb is not a good idea. The same goes for some chemicals like Sarin.
If you want to know what it is, how it harms our body, and more, continue reading, what I am about to share with you will surely interest you.
All poisons have their particular way of acting, depending on the organic system they affect. A few weeks ago I shared content regarding the effect of snake venom, which basically affects the blood and circulation.
In the specific case of the chemical I want to talk about today, it is very toxic in the Nervous System, which explains its high lethality. Fortunately it has not been used in wars for decades, but it is always a latent danger that we have as a species.
To understand well how it works, and what it produces in our nervous system, it is necessary to understand at least at a general level how that part of the nervous system that is affected acts.
Let us always keep in mind that what poisons, drugs and other components do is at the molecular, ultracellular level. But do not worry, I will explain it in a way that will be very easy for you to understand.
In the part below we have an image, in which I wanted to graph how our nervous system acts, at least that part that is affected by Sarin, so that it is easy to understand why it happens what happens.
The cell of the nervous system is called Neuron, it is the minimum unit that composes our system, this communicates with another through a complex system called action potential, which is like an electrical impulse that runs through the entire neuron from one end to another, so that in the most distal end continues this impulse to another neuron.
Once the impulse or action potential reaches the distal end, a quantity of a neurotransmitter is released towards the end of the other neuron that will continue with the message, it is the way to communicate, this neurotransmitter is called Acetylcholine. The one that will activate in the other cell the mechanism of potential of action, that will cross all the cell until the following one, where again acetylcholine is liberated, to continue....
All this happens immediately, in a matter of microseconds.
But all that acetylcholine that is released cannot remain there in the intercellular space, because otherwise it would constantly activate the cell, which would cause a malfunction.
To avoid the accumulation of this neurotransmitter, the cell has an enzyme called Acetylcholinesterase, which is a molecule that also acts immediately, once the acetylcholine fulfills its function, the enzyme is released and neutralizes it. Thus preventing the perpetuation of the neurotransmitter function.
All this is something that happens constantly in our body, with every movement of fingers, eyes, every breath, there is always release of the neurotransmitter and the enzyme acts immediately.
Having understood this, let's move on to how this chemical affects our body.
When Serin enters our body, usually through the respiratory tract, it reaches the blood and is dispersed throughout our body. This chemical has the ability to bind to the enzyme acetylcholinesterase, but in an irreversible way. That is, when it binds to the enzyme, it cannot be released from it, which means that the enzyme can no longer exert its action on acetylcholine.
This causes the acetylcholine to accumulate more and more, with nothing to limit its activity on the next neuron, perpetuating the cycle.
Well, to make it easier to understand and visualize, our muscles cannot remain contracted constantly, nor always relaxed. And this is what happens, and above all the cause of death is when the respiratory muscles are affected, since it is not possible for the person to breathe, so an asphyxia ends his life.
Let us understand that breathing is executed by a process of expansion of the rib cage, where the diaphragm plays a key role in this vital activity, if no muscle can move, the ability for us to breathe is simply null.
In general this chemical is found in liquid form, it does not exist naturally in nature, so it has been created by humans for war purposes, unfortunately. And to be used they use systems so that it reaches its boiling point and the vapor of this chemical is released into the environment.
I have been reviewing some interesting documents in the light of all the current events surrounding the war in Ukraine, and that is a subject that has been touched on a few times, including allegations of possible use of chemical weapons in certain areas, which fortunately have been later denied.
I am hopeful that none of this will be used again, as well as keeping us away from a nuclear war because it is as lethal as this chemical, or worse.
I hope this post has enlightened you about it, it is for educational purposes and not intended to scare. Thank you very much for reading to the end.
