mmalabanan
A tropical fruit has been found by scientists to be responsible for the deaths of more than 100 children in northern India last year.
Eating too many lychees on empty stomach was discovered to be the culprit for the mysterious illness that caused sudden seizures, loss of consciousness and eventually death among seemingly healthy but poor children in the Bihar region of northern India. This phenomenon has been observed in the area for decades.
In the new study published in the medical journal The Lancet, US and Indian scientists revealed that most of the victims were 10 times more likely to have consumed lychee in the last 24 hours before they fell ill and twice as likely to have skipped their dinner.
Scientists compared the blood and fluid samples of victims and children who did not develop the disease. They found that hypoglycin, a toxin found in lychees that hinder the body’s ability to produce glucose, was found in urine samples of two-thirds of the victims. It affected young children whose blood sugar levels were already low because they didn’t eat dinner.
In their investigation, they discovered that hungry children would often eat lychees that have fallen from trees in commercial orchards during its season. Young kids, who are particularly suscpetible, would return home feeling full and refuse dinner. As a result, their blood sugar levels drop at a very low level causing them to suffer convulsions, loss of consciousness and acute swelling of the brain.
They also found a link of the illness to a sickness outbreak that occurred in the Carribean in the past. The disease was apparently caused by ackee fruit, which also contains hypoglycin.
Following the discovery, health experts advised parents to make sure their children have dinner, limit lychees they consume and prevent them from eating the fruit on empty stomach.
