Unknown Herbal Poisoning with Fatal Outcome

Background: Herbs can be toxic and may be even life-threatening. The mixture of different plants and herbs made by traditional healer and their canvassing on the street attract general people. Here, we report four cases of severe herbal poisoning. Case presentation: In 2008, four young people rushed to DMC Hospital in the early morning with a history of taking herbal medicine (tonic) on that night for gratification. About 3–4 h after ingestion, they experienced repeated vomiting and abdominal pain. Two patients deteriorated within the hours after admission with restlessness, progressive unconsciousness, and died soon after. The other two patients absconded from the hospital, including the person who prepared the tonic. Screening of the tonic by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry did not reveal toxic components. Discussion: The suspected herbs used for the preparation of that tonic were Santalum album (Chandan wood) which contains Santalol and other etheric oils; Plantago ovata (Ispaghula Husk) containing diverse alkaloids, phenols, etc.; and Mimosa pudica which is the common Mimosa and contains the alkaloid Mimosine. The nature of the tonic and source of the intoxication could not be finally elucidated. Conclusion: The described cases of unknown herbal poisoning in Bangladesh highlight the need for awareness campaigns targeting the population at risk

Rivastigmine but not vardenafil reverses cannabis-induced impairment of verbal memory in healthy humans

RATIONALE: One of the most often reported cognitive deficits of acute cannabis administration is an impaired recall of previously learned information. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to determine whether cannabis-induced memory impairment in humans is mediated via glutamatergic or cholinergic pathways. METHODS: Fifteen occasional cannabis users participated in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, six-way cross-over study. On separate test days, subjects received combinations of pretreatment (placebo, vardenafil 20 mg or rivastigmine 3 mg) and treatment (placebo or 1,376 mg cannabis/kg body weight). Cognitive tests were administered immediately after inhalation of treatment was finished and included measures of memory (visual verbal learning task, prospective memory test, Sternberg memory test), perceptual-motor control (critical tracking task), attention (divided attention task) and motor impulsivity (stop signal task). RESULTS: The results of this study demonstrate that subjects under the influence of cannabis were impaired in all memory tasks, in critical tracking, divided attention and the stop signal task. Pretreatment with rivastigmine attenuated the effect of cannabis on delayed recall and showed a trend towards significance on immediate recall. When cannabis was given in combination with vardenafil, there were no significant interaction effects in any of the tasks. CONCLUSIONS: The present data therefore suggest that acetylcholine plays an important role in cannabis-induced memory impairment, whereas similar results for glutamate have not been demonstrated in this study

Tolerance and cross-tolerance to neurocognitive effects of THC and alcohol in heavy cannabis users

and cross-tolerance to neurocognitive effects of THC and alcohol in heavy cannabis user

The Consumption of Khat and Other Drugs in Somali Combatants: A Cross-Sectional Study

Having interviewed military personnel in Somali, Michael Odenwald and colleagues conclude that drug-related problems, mainly relating to the use of khat, have reached proportions formerly unknown to the country

Identification of kinetic triplets by results of derivatographic analysis

The method for identification of the triplet of kinetic parameters of a heterogeneous reaction using the data of the derivatographic analysis is proposed. This method is characterized by high accuracy and relative simplicity and it can be effectively realized using MS Excel software

Regular Khat (Catha edulis) chewing is associated with elevated diastolic blood pressure among adults in Butajira, Ethiopia: A comparative study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Fresh leaves and buds of the Khat plant (<it>Catha edulis</it>) contain Cathinone, an amphetamine like alkaloid responsible for its pharmacological action. Chewing of Khat has been associated with a transient rise in blood pressure and heart rate in experimental studies. Few studies examined the effect of regular or frequent Khat chewing on blood pressure at the population level. This study was conducted to examine the association of regular Khat chewing with blood pressure among adults.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We compared systolic and diastolic blood pressure of adults 35-65 years of age who reported regular chewing of Khat during the preceding five years to those who never chewed Khat during the same period. Study participants were recruited from purposively selected urban and rural villages of Butajira District in Ethiopia. The comparative groups, chewers (334) and non-chewers (330), were identified from among the general population through a house-to-house visit using a screening questionnaire. They were frequency-matched for sex and age within a five-year range. Data were collected through structured interviews and physical measurements including blood pressure, weight and height.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The prevalence of hypertension was significantly higher among Khat chewers (13.4%) than non-chewers (10.7%), odds ratio (OR) = 1.66 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.05, 3.13). A considerably high proportion of chewers (29.9%) than non-chewers (20.6%) had sub-optimal diastolic blood pressure (> 80 mmHg). The mean (sd) diastolic blood pressure was significantly higher among Khat chewers [75.0 (11.6)] than non-chewers [72.9 (11.7)], P < 0.05. Similarly, Khat chewers had significantly higher mean (sd) heart rate [76.3 (11.5)] than non-chewers [73.9 (12.6)], P < 0.05. There was no significant difference in mean systolic blood pressure between the two groups.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Regular chewing of Khat is associated with elevated mean diastolic blood pressure, which is consistent with the peripheral vasoconstrictor effect of Cathinone. Regular Khat chewing may have sustained effects on the cardiovascular system that can contribute to elevated blood pressure at the population level.</p