-IBIS-1.5.0-

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toxidrome

Gelsemium toxidrome

botanicals

definition

gelsemium toxidrome

the following toxicity information is largely derived from poisonings, overdoses and research on isolated constituents; used with appropriate clinical judgment and cautious prescribing, herbs are safe and efficacious

plants included:

» Gelsemium sempervirens

treatment of overdose should be symptomatic and help promote renal output; Atropine or Digitalis may be useful; artificial respiration may be necessary (Duke, p. 205; Grieve; Hardin, p. 124-126)

• Gelsemium toxidrome: neuromotor and spinal nerve stimulation followed by paralysis; signs and symptoms include a weak and thready pulse, diaphoresis, headache (usually frontal) vertigo, ataxia, dysphagia, dysphasia, dry mouth, double vision; followed by ptosis, a paralysis of the tongue, a pronounced weakness of the jaw, muscular prostration, and a strychnine-like intoxication (general rigidity, tetany, spasmodic extensor reflexes with hypercontractility); palpebral ptosis and a rigid and shy-like expression in the face have been noted; in later stages hypotension occurs, followed by death due to cardiorespiratory failure; convulsions are rare (Ellis, p. 74; Felter and Scudder, pp. 385- 386; von Oettingen, p. 368)

footnotes

Duke, J.A. 1985. C.R.C. Handbook of Medicinal Herbs. Boca Raton, FL: The C.R.C. Press.

Ellis, M.D. 1975. Dangerous Plants, Snakes, Arthropods, And Marine Life. Hamilton, IL: Drug Intelligence Publications, Inc.

Felter, H.W. & Scudder, John K., 1922. The Eclectic Materia Medica, Pharmacology and Therapeutics. Cincinnati, Ohio. Reprinted in 1985 by Eclectic Medical Publications, Portland, OR.

Grieve, M. 1971. A Modern Herbal, Vols. I and II. New York: Dover Publications.

Hardin, J. W.; and Arena, J.M. 1974. Human Poisoning from Native Cultivated Plants, 2nd ed. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

von Oettingen, W.F. 1958. Poisoning: A Guide to Clinical Diagnosis and Treatment. Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders and Company.

I> New York: Dover Publications.

Hardin, J. W.; and Arena, J.M. 1974. Human Poisoning from Native Cultivated Plants, 2nd ed. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

von Oettingen, W.F. 1958. Poisoning: A Guide to Clinical Diagnosis and Treatment. Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders and Company.

nd Company.