From the Editor

A burn is an injury to tissue resulting from heat, chemicals or electricity. It is generally thought that heat is the only cause of burns, but some chemicals and electric current can burn as well. Although the skin is the usual part of the body to be burnt, the tissues under the skin also can be burned, and internal organs can be burned even when the skin is not. For example, drinking a very hot liquid or caustic substance such as acid can burn the oesophagus and stomach, inhaling smoke and hot air from a fire in a burning building can burn the lungs.

Burnt tissues may die. When tissues are damaged by a burn, fluids leaks from blood vessels, causing swelling. Shock could be caused by loss of a large amount of fluid from abnormally leaky blood vessels. Electrical burn or an electrical ark burn, usually completely destroys and chars the skin at the current's point of entry into the body. Large electrical shock can paralyse breathing and disturb heart rhythm, causing dangerously irregular heart beat.

 

Chemical burns can be caused by various irritants and poisons, including strong acids and alkalis, phenols and cresols (organic solvents) mustard gas and phosphorus. Chemical burns can cause tissue death that can slowly spread for hours after the burn. The severity of burn depends on the amount of tissue affected and the depth of the injury, which is described as first, second, or third degree. The third degree burns cause the deepest damage and often prove life threatening or even fatal.

 

From the Editor

A burn is an injury to tissue resulting from heat, chemicals or electricity. It is generally thought that heat is the only cause of burns, but some chemicals and electric current can burn as well. Although the skin is the usual part of the body to be burnt, the tissues under the skin also can be burned, and internal organs can be burned even when the skin is not. For example, drinking a very hot liquid or caustic substance such as acid can burn the oesophagus and stomach, inhaling smoke and hot air from a fire in a burning building can burn the lungs. Burnt tissues may die. When tissues are damaged by a burn, fluids leaks from blood vessels, causing swelling. Shock could be caused by loss of a large amount of fluid from abnormally leaky blood vessels. Electrical burn or an electrical ark burn, usually completely destroys and chars the skin at the currents point of entry into the body. Large electrical shock can paralyse breathing and disturb heart rhythm, causing dangerously irregular heart beat. Chemical burns can be caused by various irritants and poisons, including strong acids and alkalis, phenols and cresols (organic solvents) mustard gas and phosphorus. Chemical burns can cause tissue death that can slowly spread for hours after the burn. The severity of burn depends on the amount of tissue affected and the depth of the injury, which is described as first, second, or third degree. The third degree burns cause the deepest damage and often prove life threatening or even fatal.