Shock is the body's reaction to a trauma. The trauma could be anything from physical trauma (accident, fall, wound, operation etc.) to a bereavement or other emotional trauma. The body's reaction to shock varies from person to person and the extent of the trauma and symptoms could be as little as a headache, panic attach or grief to fatal cardiac arrest or the failure of other vital organs.

In the filed that we cover at Beneforce only milder shock or convalescing treatments are suggested.

Shock may be easy to understand in simple terms but in the medical world there are many classifications of shock of which I mention only the more frequently used references. None of the following conditions should be treated at home by amateurs as, in their own way, each could be life-threatening. Call an ambulance immediately.

In its pure medical form "shock" is defined as an abnormal condition of lessened blood flow with life-threatening cellular dysfunction.

The most common is Hypovolemic shock where blood circulation decreases with a corresponding reduction in the carrying of oxygen and nutrient to cells and the removal of waste products from cells. Pulse increases and breathing rate accelerates. The patient feels anxious and restless. Blood pressure reduces. Eventually body temperature declines and breathing becomes shallow. Hypovolemic shock occurs mostly after a physical trauma.

Anaphylactic shock:  Anaphylactic shock is a severe, sometimes fatal, allergic reaction to a substance. This reaction can be so sudden that it appears to be instantaneous. Symptoms are a sense of doom, anxiety and a loss of energy. Respiratory and vascular collapse may occur within minutes.

Anaphylactic shock cannot be treated at home with any form of medication unless the patient has experienced contact with the allergen before and the appropriate prescribed medication is at hand and can be administered competently. Alternative medicine and other home treatments, although possibly effective in their own right, will not act fast enough to safely avoid a fatality.

The speed of onset of anaphylactic shock typically indicates the severity of the condition. More severe cases frequently happen faster than less severe cases but this is not always the case.

Call an ambulance or use any other method to get professional medical help as soon as possible.

Septic shock may not occur that rapidly but can be just as fatal. Septic shock occurs as a result of toxins in the bloodstream normally as a result of prolonged septicemia (although it could follow rapidly after a relatively small infection) or sometimes a viral infection. Fungal infections can have the same effect.