How Navalny was poisoned: how do such poisons affect the body

On August 24, 2020, the German Charite clinic, where Alexei Navalny was taken from Russia for treatment, reported that the oppositionist was diagnosed with poisoning with a substance from the group of cholinesterase inhibitors. The specific name of the substance has not yet been determined, but the features of the group's effect on the body are known. Writes about it Meduza.

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What is known about cholinesterase inhibitors

It is poison, but not always it appears. These inhibitors are substances that are often used in medicine to alleviate the manifestation of dementia (dementia), which occurs, for example, as a result of Alzheimer's disease.

These cholinesterase inhibitors affect the level of acetylcholine, a substance that is responsible for transmitting signals from one nerve cell to another. The effect is that acetylcholine levels remain very high.

This is because inhibitors inhibit the cholinesterase enzyme, which destructively affects acetylcholine. Such substances are donepezil, rivastigmine, galantamine and others.

This group also includes organophosphates and carbamates. They are typically used as pesticides, but they have also been assigned a role in medicine. For example, neostigmine and pyridostigmine are used to suppress a drug that is used to block muscle work during anesthesia.

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But there are also extremely strong cholinesterase inhibitors. They are used in military affairs as toxic substances. These include Sarin, VX, and Novice.

What happens to the human body when poisoned with cholinesterase inhibitors

If you use inhibitors as a poison, acetylcholine becomes overabundant and over-activates the receptors of nerve cells, and therefore the functioning of the nervous system (NS) suffers. As a result, the heart rate decreases, saliva, tears and sweat are released abundantly, phlegm begins to appear, a person urinates, diarrhea and vomiting occur, the pupils are greatly narrowed (in some cases, on the contrary, they expand, and the heart rate increases).

If the situation is dire, the person is paralyzed and cannot breathe. Also, a convulsive attack often develops and a coma occurs. There is a high risk of death.

How do these substances enter the body

There are many ways of getting the considered inhibitors into the body. They can enter the body through the air, through the eyes or through the skin, even with food, through the gastrointestinal tract. Symptoms may appear immediately or after several hours.

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Why the poisonous substance was found only in the "Charite", which prevented the Omsk doctors

This is still unknown. The Omsk Health Department reported that studies for the presence of cholinesterase inhibitors in Navalny's body were carried out, but nothing was found. There is no information about what specific test we are talking about.

To identify cholinesterase inhibitors, it is necessary to determine the level of erythrocyte cholinesterase activity, for which blood is taken for analysis. At the same time, not every clinic or laboratory is able to conduct such a study, and, presumably, Omsk doctors did not have the necessary tools.

Can it be cured

In most cases, such diseases are treated, but extremely difficult. The patient needs not only active supportive therapy (including artificial lung ventilation), but also antidotes, for example, atropine, with which they are trying to cure Alexei Navalny. In addition to atropine, there is another medicine - pralidoxin. These substances bind to the same receptors as acetylcholine, preventing over-exposure.

In very severe cases, atropine must be administered in large doses over several days. Doctors may also use diazepam to suppress seizures, if any. Diazepam may also be needed for prophylaxis; it also helps preserve the patient's cognitive abilities.

When a person is poisoned with organophosphates, doctors usually give a relatively good prognosis. In some cases, the patient may recover in two to three weeks. In other situations, severe long-term consequences develop, for example, memory impairment, speech problems, hand tremors. Those poisonous inhibitors that are used by the military usually lead to more serious consequences, respectively, the treatment will be much more difficult.

As ForumDaily wrote earlier:

• On the morning of August 20, during a flight from Tomsk to Moscow, the founder of the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), Alexei Navalny, felt sick on the plane. According to his press secretary Kira Yarmysh, the politician said after takeoff that he was not feeling well and asked for a napkin. He had perspiration.
• The plane made an emergency landing in Omsk, where Navalny was hospitalized in the emergency hospital No. 1, in the toxic resuscitation department. There the politician fell into a coma... His associates believe that the opposition leader was poisoned. Doctors call poisoning one of the versions.
• Ex-FSB officer and opposition politician Gennady Gudkov toldwhy Navalny's associates and other politicians call the version of the involvement of the special services a priority, as well as how and with what the oppositionist could have been poisoned.
• August 21, the wife of Alexei Navalny Julia signed permission to transport her husband for treatment in Germany.
• On the morning of August 22, Navalny taken by plane to Berlin... He is still in a coma.
• Clinic Charité, where Navalny was taken, confirmed the assumptions about his poisoning... Clinical studies have indicated a substance from the group of cholinesterase inhibitors. The exact name of the poison is still unknown.
• Transportation of an opposition politician to Germany on a special medical plane paid for by Russian businessman Boris Ziminwho now lives in the United States.

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