Antidotes to poisons

CHjSH CHSH-CHjOH. Usually obtained as an oil, m.p. 77 C. Developed as an antidote to poisoning by organic arsenicals by external application, it is of use in poisoning by Hg, Cu, Zn, Cd but not Pb. It acts by forming a chelate with the metal and so removing it from the system. 

Antidotal therapy is valuable, but only if the above maneuvers are performed. There are many specific antidotes to poisons but they are seldom necessary or are only useful if appropriate supportive management is provided. 

Atropine is an "antidote" to poisoning by excessive stimulation of cholinergic muscarinic receptors such as occurs in mucarine and organophosphate insecticide poisoning. 

As antidotes to poisoning from curare and the tricyclic antidepressants As preanesthetic medications As mydriatics As cycloplegics... 

VENOM — The Hermetic Philosophers say that their Stone is a deadly Venom and Poison. This is not to be understood of the Perfect Stone, for that they affirm to be a Universal Medicine. The reference is to the Matter out of which the Stone is formed, and especially at the Black Stage, the corruption which then manifests being indeed a deadly poison. The name of Venom is also applied by some Philosophers to their Mercury, because it dissolves all substances with which it is combined in digestion. They say further that this Mercury is a violent poison before it has been prepared, but that after preparation it is theriacal, or an antidote to poison. 

Paul of Aegina was the last of the physicians of the Byzantine culture to practice in Alexandria, which fell to the Arabs in his professional lifetime in 642 ad. He refers to both mithridatium and ther-iac. Paul of Aegina was a link between Greek medicine and Mohammedan medicine. His book was used by Rhazes (854-930 ad), one of the greatest of the Arab physicians. Avicenna (980-1037 ad) approved of mithridatium as an antidote to poisons, and Maimonides, a Jew bom in Moslem Spain, was also familiar with mithridatium. Mithridatium re-entered Western medicine culture by two routes. A Saxon leechbook of the eleventh century records that Abel, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, sent mithridatium or theriac to King Alfred the Great, who died on 26 October 899 (Stenton, 1947). 

Baobab bark, fruit pulp and seeds appear to contain an antidote to poisoning by a number of Strophanthus species. The juice of these species has been widely used as an arrow poison especially in East Africa. In Malawi, a baobab extract is poured onto the wound of an animal killed in this way to neutralize the poison before the meat is eaten (Wickens, 1982, cited in 11, 10)). 

MILK THISTLE Silybi marianae fructus, which is the fruit of Silibum marianum (L.) Gaert, family Asteraceae. The active ingredient in the fruit is silymarin (a mixture of isomeric flavonolignans with silibinin (silybin) as the most active substance, effective as an antidote to poisoning with fly agaric (phalloi-din and a-amanitin). 

The unicorn s horn, another item of the dirt pharmacy associated with Paracelsus and the new magic medicine, was meant to be so powerful an antidote to poison that the venomous spider would be repelled by, and find itself unable to cross, the boundary of a circle made from its powder.37 Isabella s simile, in this context, is curious the infected straying to which she refers seems to associate the feared poison with an external contaminant, presumably Vittoria, yet the venomous spider seems to be Brachiano himself. Isabella seems more concerned with containing Brachiano s poison inside her circle than with keeping out that of Vittoria. 

The acute poisoning that occurs with most antihistaminics does not cause severe CNS depression as would be expected based on their sedative properties, but is manifested by mydriasis, fever, flushing, CNS excitement, hallucinations, ataxia, athetosis, and convulsions. Some of these effects, which resemble those of atropine poisoning, may be due to their anticholinergic properties. Diazepam is an effective antidote to poisoning and should be used to reverse the CNS excitement and convulsions. 

Physostigmine sulfate and physostigmine salicylate (Antilirium) are cholinesterase inhibitors that are indicated as antidotes to poisoning from substances possessing anticholinergic properties such as imipramine, a tricyclic antidepressant. In addition, it has been used in open-angle glaucoma. 

THERAP cat Treatment of liver disease antidote to poisonous mushrooms (Amanita species). 

Actions and Uses.—Internally —Eefrigerant to allay febrile heat styptic, astringent, and diuretic also lithonlytic for calculi and urinary deposits consisting of calcium or magnesium phosphate or carbonate. Likewise employed as an antidote to poisoning by the alkalies and their carbonates. Very seldom used, however, internally. 

Actions and Uses.—Chiefly employed for disinfecting the air of stables and other buildings. Occasionally used as a therapeutic in glanders, farcy, and similar affections, in which Cases it first increases, but ultimately diminishes, the secretion of the nasal membrane. It has also been recommended as an antidote to poisoning by hydrocyanic acid and sulphuretted hydrogen. 

Actions and Uses.—Internally —In excessive doses, irritant poison in medicinal doses, astringent in diarrhoea, dysentery, and obstinate diabetes as an antidote to poisoning by lead, and to arrest the secretion of milk in cows. Eccternally —Astringent to open joints and wounded thec as a collyrium in chronic conjunctivitis also styptic. 

Actions and Uses.—Internally —Irritant, corrosive, and antacid. Given chiefly to cattle, as an antacid in indigestion, diarrhoea, and tympanitis. Sometimes employed as an antidote to poisoning by arsenic and irritant acids. 

Actions and XTses.—Antidote to poisoning by arsenic, in which case it forms an insoluble and inert ferrous sub-arseniate. 

Actions and TTses.—Chiefly as an antacid occasionally as an antidote to poisoning by acids. 

Actions and Uses.—Cathartic, diuretic, and febrifuge. Chiefly employed, combined with ginger, as a purgative for cattle and sheep. Used also as a febrifuge for the horse, and as an antidote to poisoning by lead. 

Actions and Uses.—Internally —Cathartic and diuretic, but chiefly employed as an antacid, as an antidote to poisoning by the mineral acids, and in the preparation of clysters. Externally —Stimulant to sprains and contusions also applied to burns and scalds to diminish the irritation and pain by excluding air. Likewise employed as an excipient in making up boluses, liniments, and oint-... 

Two well-known alkaloids, cocaine (3.11) and atropine (3.12), are ester derivatives of the 8-azabicyclo[3.2.1]octane ring system. Cocaine, isolated from a variety of the poppy plant, has been used as a topical anesthetic, but it is highly addictive if it enters the bloodstream and is now a controlled substance. Atropine, however, is highly useful in medicine with anticholinergic properties. It is isolated from the Belladonna plant and has been used for many years to dilate the pupil of the eye. It is also an effective antidote to poisoning by anticholinesterase chemicals, when these are used as insecticides or in extremely toxic form as chemical warfare agents. 

Hindus have used the Indian snakeroot Rauwolfia serpentaria) for centuries as a febrifuge, an antidote to poisonous snakebites, and a treatment for dysentery and other intestinal afflictions. The plant is a perennial, evergreen shrub that grows in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Burma and Thailand. Reserpine, the major indole alkaloid present in roots, stems and leaves of R. serpentina at levels of 1.7-3.0% (w/w), is an effective hypotensive. 

The earliest means by which adverse effects of chemicals were found were observations on exposed humans. On the other hand, the discipline of experimental toxicology can be traced to the experiments performed on thousands of dogs by M.J. Orfila (1787-1853). Orfila also studied antidotes to poisons, as well as forensic toxicology (77). 

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