This Mushroom Starts Killing You Before You Even Realize It | Deep Look

The notorious death cap mushroom causes poisonings and deaths around the world. If you were to eat these unassuming greenish mushrooms by mistake, you wouldn’t know your liver is in trouble until several hours later. The death cap has been spreading across California. Can scientists find a way to stop it?

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Where do death cap mushrooms grow?
In California, they grow mainly under coast live oaks. They have also been found under pines, and in Yosemite Valley under black oaks.

Why do death caps grow under trees?
As many fungi do, death cap mushrooms live off of trees, in what’s called a mycorrhizal relationship. They send filaments deep down to the trees’ roots, where they attach to the very thin root tips. The fungi absorb sugars from the trees and give them nutrients in exchange.

Where do California’s death cap mushrooms come from?
Biologist Anne Pringle, at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, has done research that shows that death caps likely snuck into California from Europe attached to the roots of imported plants, as early as 1938.

How deadly are death cap mushrooms?
Between 2010 and 2015, five people died in California and 57 became sick after eating the unassuming greenish mushrooms, according to the California Poison Control System. One mushroom cap is enough to kill a human being, and they’re also poisonous to dogs. Death caps are believed to be the number one cause of fatal mushroom poisonings worldwide.

What happens if you eat a death cap mushroom?
A toxin in the mushroom destroys your liver cells. Dr. Kent Olson, co-medical director of the San Francisco Division of the California Poison Control System, said that for the first six to 12 hours after they eat the mushroom, victims of the death cap feel fine. During that time, a toxin in the mushroom is quietly injuring their liver cells. Patients then develop severe abdominal pain, diarrhea and vomiting. “They can become very rapidly dehydrated from the fluid losses,” said Olson. Dehydration can cause kidney failure, which compounds the damage to the liver. For the most severe cases, the only way to save the patient is a liver transplant.

For more information on the death cap:

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#deeplook #mushroom #deathcap

[Flok]

All mushrooms are edible, some just once.

[lolaquiroz]

Deep Look: This Mushroom starts killing you before you realize it

Mushroom behind me ready to strike with a frying pan:

[lyfandeth]

In France, every pharmacist (yes, pharmacist) must also be a trained mycologist, so you can bring wild mushrooms to any drug store and the pharmacist has the training and knowledge to tell you which ones are safe.

[worldfuturestar]

Moral of the story : dont eat random mushrooms in the forest

[HITHEREWINSTON]

Telling from the title, I thought that it was going to be a mushroom that you couldn't stand within a certain range of because it had toxic spores that would kill you

[senorkaboom]

Since I am not familiar with mushrooms in the field, I just assume all are harmful/poisonous/deadly in some fashion. I will just continue to buy my favorite 'shrooms at the store and avoid any risk.

[grahamthompson]

This kind of implies that other mushrooms are polite enough to let you know that they are killing you before they start doing so.

[sabishiihito]

Press F to pay respects to all the people that died finding out which mushrooms were safe to eat.

[reika]

Who would win?
A complex organism capable of thought and self-awareness
OR
One cappy boi

[rosethehat]

When I read the title, I thought it meant it kills you in a way where you touch it or breathe in particles and slowly die. I feel safer knowing that this only occurs when you eat them!

[person]

Death Caps grew in my backyard in Australia. I wasn't sure what they were either. I didn't eat it, obviously. Then, when it was time to mow my lawn, I accidentally ran over the mushroom. They never grew again, which is surprising.

[wadeadkins]

There are old mushroom pickers, and there are bold mushroom pickers. There are no old bold mushroom pickers.

[Grumpycat]

I don't know why people are still surprised why nature is so brutal, this planet is huge graveyard .

[acarmonam]

I seriously love how these videos are narrated like those scary, unsolved mystery/ crime ones but its all nature.

[JohnGeorge-pwxo]

Mushrooms actually did wonders in my life. I suffered severe anxiety and mental disorder 18 years ago as a teenage, got diagnosed with OCD. Spent my whole life fighting OCD. Not until my mom recommended me to psilocybin mushrooms treatment. Psilocybin treatment saved my life honestly. 8 years totally clean. Never thought I would be saying this about mushrooms.

[squidaker]

This isn't that scary. Just don't eat random mushrooms.

[phadedfantom]

"The next morning, I took a nap" so you woke up and took a nap?

[Keznen]

This is why you never eat wild mushrooms unless you know exactly what every mushroom species is, how they look, and if they're edible. If you can, get a guidebook on them.

[DiGiTaLdAzEDM]

I found what were later identified as 'Destroying Angel' mushrooms on a local hiking trail. They are almost as toxic as Death Caps. Kind of unsettling when you find such toxic plants in your familiar stomping grounds.

[SiliconChipCookie]

"You discovered Damage Health"
"You discovered Damage Stamina"
"You discovered Fortify Smithing"