Have you heard of lime disease? I did not say lyme disease because pronunciation can be a very big difficulty in trying to identify them but their spellings are completely different. Lyme disease is associated with tick bite where the affected person suffers a bacterial infection that can be characterized by fever, headache, fatigue, stiff neck, joint pain, erythema, and muscle ache.
With lime disease, it has to do citrus and lime in particular where a drink of lime can lead to a reaction in the body. A simple act like going to the beach to sunbath, only for you to add lime to your beer, then take a sip and you begin to experience a citrusy mist taste but then something else comes into play. Because of the chemicals in lime and the UV radiation from the sun, the skin is about to tell a different story which doesn't happen at the moment but can begin to manifest a day or two days after.
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After about 2 days, a person can begin to experience an itchy burning rash which then develops into fluid-filled blisters. Lime disease can also be called several other names including Mexican beer dermatitis, Club med dermatitis, and Margarita dermatitis but all these aren't the medical name for the disease, its medical name is Phytophotodermatitis which phyto meaning plant, photo meaning light and dermatitis which means skin damage.
Lime disease is caused by furanocoumarin isomer which are a defense mechanisms which helps them stay alive and deter herbivores that wants to eat them. Plants of the family Rutaceae (oranges, lemons, limes, and grapefruit), Apiaceae (celery, carrot, parsnips, and parsley) Moraceae (mulberry family), and Fabaceae (legume family).
On their own, this isomer isn't a cell damaging compound, but when it is exposed to sun UV light, its damaging properties are activated. When it is activated, it binds to certain bits of DNA inside the cells of other animals thereby interfering the DNA structure of the Animal leading to DNA damage which then causes cells to die.
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While some animals are able to avoid the plants, some do not worry about it like some caterpillar species such as Archips Argyrospila that would still eat the plant's leaves but from the inside thereby preventing the furanocoumarin based food from being exposed to UV light and some other specie of caterpillars create compounds that detoxify the activated furanocoumarin isomer in their body.
While we have been able to overcome a lot of defense mechanisms due to our ability to cook but for some types of food and drinks like cocktails where cooking is not done, some of these chemicals can affect us like Lime for instance, which has three furanocoumarin isomers including Bergapten, Xanthotoxin, and Limettin both in the juice and back of the fruit and they can be toxic when consumed.
With Phytophotodermatitis, the skin condition is basically because the UV light helps the furanocoumarin damage the DNA causing the immune system to fight and kill these cells so they do not become cancerous. When the blisters start to surface, taking corticosteroids can be helpful as the mimic the hormone and interact with the immune system so as to reduce inflammation. The blisters will usually go away after couple of days or weeks but why will you go through this terrible experience when you can prevent it by simply washing the lime before taking it but not everyone would adhere to simple warnings, so if you find yourself having this rash, or blister as a result of lime disease or any rash at all, please visit the doctor immediately.
Read More
- https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2010/10/21/130722086
- https://cen.acs.org/safety/Chemistry-Pictures-Club-Med-dermatitis
- https://www.jstor.org/stable/1938456
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16640727/
- https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1119566-overview
- https://escholarship.org/content/qt6rt939kz/
- https://books.google.com.ng/books?id=9DEBCAAAQBAJ
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