Salmonella is a type of food poisoning developed from exposure to tainted meats, chicken, eggs and some dairy products. Conventional medicine claims there is no cure for it, but some alternative medical practitioners encourage the use of herbs and alternative therapies like homeopathy and Chinese medicine to relieve symptoms. If left untreated the effects of salmonella can develop into a condition known as Reiter's syndrome, which is a series of seemingly unrelated symptoms that often become permanent impairments.
Salmonella Food Poisoning
Initial symptoms of food poisoning from salmonella, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC), are stomach cramps with bloddy diarrhea, chills, fever, vomiting, weakness, burning pains in the digestive tract and headaches with muscle soreness and sometimes joint pain. Rapid dehydration is a risk due to the loss of fluids.
Reiter's Syndrome
A condition known as Reiter's syndrome, or reactive arthritis, may develop as a result of salmonella food poisoning. It's symptoms are characterized by flu-like pain and gastrointestinal problems, according to WrongDiagnosis.com. Swelling in the joints, urinary tract symptoms such as a low-grade fever and eye symptoms involving redness and inflammation of the conjunctiva (conjunctivitis or pink eye) are also common with this condition, according to MedLinePlus.com. The arthritic symptoms may be one-sided on the body or even appear in only one joint.
Specific eye and skin symptoms to watch out for are discharge, burning pains, redness, sores on hands and feet like psoriasis and/or mouth ulcers. Urinary tract and genital symptoms may be lesions on the penis, incontinence and inflammation with a sense of urgency. Specific arthritic symptoms may be heel and joint pain and Achilles tendon pain.
Causes
Causes of salmonella food poisoning are the bacteria Shigella spp., and Campylobacter jejuni (C. jejuni) found in contaminated foods like poultry, dairy products, eggs and beef.
