Strychnine poisoning can be fatal to humans and other animals and can occur through inhalation, swallowing or absorption through the eyes or mouth. It produces some of the most dramatic and painful symptoms of any known toxic reaction, making it quite visible and a common choice for killing and poisoning attacks. For this reason, strychnine poisoning is often depicted in literature and film, such as the murder mystery written by Agatha Christie.
Video Strychnine poisoning
Presentation on humans
Ten to twenty minutes after exposure, the muscles of the body begin to spasm, beginning with the head and neck in the form of trismus and risus sardonicus. The spasms then spread to every muscle in the body, with persistent seizures, and worse on the smallest stimulus. Seizures develop, increasing the intensity and frequency until the backbone continues to curve. Convulsions cause lactic acidosis, hyperthermia and rhabdomyolysis. This is followed by a postical depression. Death comes from asphyxia caused by neural path paralysis that controls breathing, or due to seizure fatigue. Subjects usually die within 2-3 hours after exposure.
A medical student in 1896 described the experience in a letter to the Lancet:
Three years ago I was reading for an exam, and felt "run down". I took 10 mins strychnia solution (B.P.) with the same amount of dilute acid, diluted twice daily. On the second day of drinking it, late in the night, I feel the stiffness of the "facial muscles" and the distinctive metal taste in the mouth. There is great anxiety and anxiety, and I feel the urge to walk and do something rather than sit still and read. I lay on the bed and my calf muscles started stiffening and jerking. My toes are pulled under my feet, and as I move or turn my head blinking light keeps darting in my eyes.. I then know something serious is developing, so I crawled off the bed and rushed to a box in my room and got (thankfully) bromide potassium and kloral. I do not have the confidence or the courage to weigh them, so I guess the number is about 30 gr. [30 grains, about 2 grams] of potassium bromide and 10 gr. kucoral-put them in a glass with water, and drink it. My whole body was sweating cold, with a breeze in the precordial region, and a feeling of "going away." I do not call for medical help, because I think the symptoms are decreasing. I feel better, but my lower limbs are ice-cold, and my calf muscles continue to tense and jerk. No opisthotonos, just a little stiffness in the back of the neck. Half an hour later, when I can judge, I take the same amount of potassium and cloral bromide, and a little time after I lose consciousness and fall into "deep sleep," wake up in the morning with no unpleasant symptoms, no headaches, & amp; c., but the desire to "move" and a little rigid feeling in the jaw. It works during the day.
Maps Strychnine poisoning
Treatment
There is no special antidote for strychnine. "Convulsions are often triggered by stimuli - when your body feels something, neurons want to shoot, and if they are not controlled seizures occur - so patients are usually kept in quiet and dark rooms." Treatment of strychnine poisoning involves the oral application of an activated charcoal infusion that serves to absorb toxins in the digestive tract that have not been absorbed into the blood. Anticonvulsants such as phenobarbital or diazepam are given to control seizures, along with muscle relaxants such as dantrolene to fight muscle stiffness. If the patient survives over 24 hours, recovery may occur.
Treatment for strychnine poisoning in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was to regulate tannic acid that precipitated strychnine as insoluble tannate salt, and then anesthetized patients with chloroform until the strychnine effect faded.
Detection on biological specimens
Strychnine is easily quantized in body fluids and tissues using instrumental methods to confirm the diagnosis of poisoning in hospitalized victims or to assist in forensic investigations of fatal cases of overdose. The concentrations in the blood or urine of those with symptoms are often in the range of 1-30 mg/L.
Strychnine Toxicity in Animals
Strychnine poisoning in animals occurs usually from feed consumption designed to be used against rodents (especially glands and rats) and coyotes. Rodent feeds are usually available without a prescription, but the coyote bait is illegal in the United States. However, since 1990 in the United States most of the feeds containing strychnine have been replaced with zinc phosphide baits. Domestic animals most often affected are dogs, either through intentional swallowing or deliberate poisoning. The onset of symptoms is 10 to 120 minutes after consumption. Symptoms include seizures, horse "horse horses", and opisthotonus (rigid extension of all four limbs). Death is usually secondary to respiratory paralysis. Treatment is performed by detoxification using activated charcoal, pentobarbital for symptoms, and artificial respiration for apnea.
In most western countries special licenses are required to use and have strychnine for agricultural use.
Important example
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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