Bromide Toxicity from Consumption of Dead Sea Salt. Sosa R, Stone W. Am J Med March 2010;123:e11-12.
Until the middle of the 20th century, when bromide was removed from such over-the-counter products as Dr. Miles’ Nervine and Bromo-Seltzer, chronic bromism was reported to be responsible for approximately 5-10% of admissions to psychiatric hospitals. Bromide has sedative and …
Whole Bowel Irrigation and the Hemodynamically Unstable Calcium Channel Blocker Overdose: Primum non Nocere. Cumpston KL et al. J Emerg Med 2010;38:171-174.
As even its proponents admit, whole bowel irrigation (WBI) with high-molecular-weight polyethylene glycol (PEG) has never been proven to improve clinical outcomes in toxicology patients. Despite this, some physicians argue that the procedure is safe, and …
In an absolutely must-read article, Pulitzer Prize-winning science reporter Deborah Blum writes in Slate about a program pursued by the U.S. government in the 1920s and 30s intended to poison supplies of bootleg alcohol. During prohibition, illegal liquor syndicates would steal massive amounts of industrial alcohol, which had been “denatured” — made non-potable — by the addition of poisons …
The Independent (U.K.) reported today that the potentially deadly funnel-web spider (Atrax robustus) has had a banner year in the area around Sydney, Australia, where a combination of unusual moisture and cool temperatures have created ideal conditions for the creatures to breed. Funnel-webs have not only long (4-5 mm) and extremely sharp fangs, but also a neurotoxin that …
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The Wellcome Trust has established a YouTube channel featuring hundreds of historic medical videos. This German demonstration of peripheral lead neuropathy from 1925 will be of particular interest to toxicologists. This condition was
DELAYED ONSET OF SEIZURES AND TOXICITY ASSOCIATED WITH RECREATIONAL USE OF BROMO-DRAGONFLY Wood DM et al. J Med Toxicol Dec 2009;5:226229.
Bromo-dragonfly is a research chemical first synthesized in 1998 that is occasionally used as a recreational psychedelic agent. It is related to the phenethylamine and acts as a serotonin agonist. It got its name because of its …
The New York Times has an interesting piece today in its Science Section that asks an obvious question: Creatures such as puffer fish, floral egg crabs, and blue-ringed octopi all contain incredibly lethal amounts of tetrodotoxin, a neurotoxin that causes paralysis and respiratory arrest by binding to and blocking elements of the fast sodium channel in excitable tissue. …
AGRANULOCYTOSIS ASSOCIATED WITH COCAINE USE — FOUR STATES, MARCH 2008 – NOVEMBER 2009 MMWR Dec 18, 2009;58:1381-1385.
A must-read report in the current issue of MMWR presents 21 cases of agranulocytosis in cocaine users, apparently caused by adulteration of the drug with levamisole, a veterinary anihelminthic also used infrequently in humans to treat certain types of cancer. The DEA has …
MAD HONEY SEX: THERAPEUTIC MISADVENTURES FROM AN ANCIENT BIOLOGICAL WEAPON. Demircan A et al. Ann Emerg Med Dec 2009;54:824-829.
“Mad honey” — made from pollen of Rhododentron species – contains a grayanotoxin that opens sodium channels and maintains excitable cells in a state of depolarization. Signs and symptoms of intoxication include dizziness, nausea, vomiting, bradycardia, and hypotension. This …
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