Abstract
Acute poisoning caused by plant is not uncommon in Bangladesh. Intentional or accidental plant poisoning sometimes results in morbidity and significant death. People have been traditionally using medicinal plant from the very early period of civilization, and this practice is still continued in a well-established manner, especially for the treatment of some chronic non-curable disease; medicinal plants are considered nontoxic by the general public due to their natural origin. The mixture of different plants and herbs made by a traditional healer and their canvassing on the street magnetize a wide range of people. The easy low-cost availability and the consumption of unknown and inappropriate mixture of mysterious medicinal plants sometime cause hepatic and renal toxicity, even deaths which are mostly unreported. Inadvertent deaths do occur in children in Bangladesh due to plant poisoning. Food scarcity during a disaster also drives poor people to deviate their usual consumption practices and take immature or nonprocess plants which are occasionally fatal. Plant poisoning for suicidal attempt is now declining mostly due to the availability of other easy method like agrochemical and pharmaceutical drug. Suicidal attempt by yellow oleander is infrequently reported in different hospitals. In Bangladesh, once Datura plant seeds were popularly used by miscreants as a stufying agent offered through different food items to a bystander to make them stupor in order to rob the capital. A separate group of poisonings with significant mortality and morbidity occurs after women use plants to induce abortions. Treatment for most plant poisoning is symptomatic, and specific antidotes are used in only a very few cases.
References
Arnett, Amy M, “JimsonWeed (Datura stramonium) poisoning”. Clin Toxicol Rev. Dec 1995;18(3);on line version at: http://www.erowid.org/plants/datura/datura_info5.shtml.
Bandara V, Weinstein SA, White J, Eddleston M. A review of the natural history, toxinology, diagnosis and clinical management of Nerium oleander (common oleander) and Thevetia peruviana (yellow oleander) poisoning. Toxicon. 2010;56(3):273–81.
Banglapedia. Poisonous plant. 2013; Available from: http://www.banglapedia.org/HT/P_0205.HTM
Basher A, Maude R J, Amin R, Ghose A, Nazmul Ahsan HAM, Faiz M A. Poisoning in Bangladesh-DMCH Survey, 10th Scientific congress of the Asia Pacific Association of Medical Toxicology, APAMT2011; 12–14 Nov 2011, Penang.
Caravati EM. Marijuana and other cannabinoids. In: Dart RC, editor. Medical toxicology. 3rd ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2004. p. 1112–6.
Davies P, Levy S, Pahari A, et al. Acute nicotine poisoning associated with a traditional remedy for eczema. Arch Dis Child. 2001;85:500–2. doi:10.1136/adc.85.6.500.
Douglas RL. Plant poisoning. E-Med J. 2001;2(5):1 (www.acep.org).
Duke JA, et al. CRC handbook of medicinal herbs. Boca Raton: CRC Press; 2002.
Eddleston M, Persson H. Acute plant poisoning and antitoxin antibodies. J Toxicol Clin Toxicol. 2003;41(3):309–15.
Eddleston M, Warrell DA. Management of acute yellow oleander poisoning. QJM. 1999;92:483–5.
Everis SL, editor. Poisonous plants of Australia. Sydney: Angus & Robertson; 1981. p. 128–32.
Fahy P, Arnold P, Curry SC, Bond R. Serial serum drug concentrations and prolonged anticholinergic toxicity after benztropine (Cogentin) overdose. Am J Emerg Med. 1989;7(2):199–202.
Fauci AS, Braunwald E, Isselbacher KJ, Wilson JD, Martin JB, Kasper DL, Hauser SL, Longo DL, editors. Harrison’s principles of internal medicine. 14th ed. New York: McGraw Hill; 1998. p. 275–7.
Greenberg M. Accidental digoxin poisoning in a child of 2 years. Arch Dis Child. 1957;32(164):359–60.
Grieve M. A modern herbal: the medicinal, culinary, cosmetic and economic properties, cultivation and folk-lore of herbs, grasses, fungi, shrubs, & trees with all their modern scientific uses, vol. 2. New York: Dover Publications; 1971. p. 804. ISBN 9780486227993.
Grieve M, editor. A modern herbal. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books; 1984. p. 396–7.
Gurley ES, Rahman M, Hossain MJ, Nahar N, Faiz MA, et al. Fatal outbreak from consuming Xanthium strumarium seedlings during time of food scarcity in northeastern Bangladesh. PLoS One. 2010;5(3):e9756. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0009756.
Haddad LM, Shannon MW, Winchester JF, editors. Clinical management of poisoning and drug overdose. 3rd ed. Philadelphia: WB Saunders; 1998. p. 1001–20.
Hardman JG, Limbird LE, Molinoff PB, et al., editors. Goodman and Gilman’s the pharmacological basis of therapeutics. 9th ed. New York: Pergamon Press; 1996. p. 141–60.
ICDDR,B. Fatal outbreak from ingesting toxic plants in Sylhet District, ICDDR,B Health Sci Bull. 2008;6(2):12–17.
Islam MR, Uddin MZ, Rahman MS, Tutul E, Rahman MZ, Hassan MA, Faiz MA, et al. Ethnobotanical, phytochemical and toxicological studies of Xanthium strumarium L. Bangladesh Med Res Counc Bull. 2009;35:84–90.
Jain A, Bhatnagar MK. Changing trends of poisoning at railway stations. JAPI. 2000;48:1036.
Kemper Center: Plant’s culture and characteristics. 2013. Available from: http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/Plant.asp?code=A551
Langford SD, Boor PJ. Oleander toxicity: an examination of human and animal toxic exposures. Toxicology. 1996;109(1):1–13.
Linden CH. Digitalis glycosides. In: Ford MD, Delaney KA, Ling LJ, Erickson T, editors. Clinical toxicology. Philadelphia: WB Saunders; 2001. p. 379–90.
Ma G, Brady WJ, Pollack M, Chan TC. Electrocardiographic manifestations: digitalis toxicity. J Emerg Med. 2001;20(2):145–52.
Macnab A, Anderson E, Susak L. Ingestion of cannabis: a cause of coma in children. Pediatr Emerg Care. 1989;5(4):238–9.
Modi NS. Modi’s textbook of medical jurisprudence and toxicology. Bombay: N.M.Tripathi; 1988. p. 277.
Morgenstern GF. Trihexyphenidyl (Artane) intoxication due to overdosage with suicidal intent. Can Med Assoc J. 1962;87:79–80.
Inamul Haq. Safety of medicinal plants Pak J Med Res Oct - Dec 2004;43(4):203–10.
Omar AA, Elrashidy EM, Ghazy NA, Metwally AL, Ziesche J, Bohlmann F. Xanthanolides from Xanthium strumarium. Phytochemistry. 1984;23:915–6.
Otten EJ. Marijuana. In: Goldfrank LR, Flomenbaum NE, Lewin NA, et al., editors. Goldfrank’s toxicologic emergencies. 7th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill; 2002. p. 1054–8.
Preissel U, Preissel H-G. Brugmansia and datura: angel’s trumpets and thorn apples. Willowdale: Firefly Books; 2002. p. 124–5.
Schep LJ, Slaughter RJ, Beasley DM. Nicotinic plant poisoning. Clin Toxicol (Phila). 2009;47(8):771–81.
Stern TA. Continuous infusion of physostigmine in anticholinergic delirium: case report. J Clin Psychiatry. 1983;44(12):463–4.
Taboulet P, Baud FJ, Bismuth C. Clinical features and management of digitalis poisoning–rationale for immunotherapy. J Toxicol Clin Toxicol. 1993a;31(2):247–60.
Taboulet P, Baud FJ, Bismuth C, Vicaut E. Acute digitalis intoxication–is pacing still appropriate? J Toxicol Clin Toxicol. 1993b;31(2):261–73.
Williams LC, Keyes C. Psychoactive drugs. In: Ford MD, Delaney KA, Ling LJ, Erickson T, editors. Clinical toxicology. Philadelphia: WB Saunders; 2001. p. 643–4.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this entry
Cite this entry
Basher, A., Islam, Q.T. (2015). Plants and Herbal Poisoning in Bangladesh. In: Gopalakrishnakone, P., Faiz, A., Fernando, R., Gnanathasan, C., Habib, A., Yang, CC. (eds) Clinical Toxinology in Asia Pacific and Africa. Toxinology, vol 2. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6386-9_28
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6386-9_28
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-6385-2
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-6386-9
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesReference Module Biomedical and Life Sciences