Guest guest Posted September 21, 2006 Report Share Posted September 21, 2006 A patient received a drop of a toxic catus from mexico in her left eye. Right after, her eye started to swollow and became red. After a couple of weeks she developped some acute athritis on the thumb and her left shoulder started to become very tight and weak. (tetany?) When she moves her left arm we can hear noise and feel the tissus rubbing like wool. But when we do passive movement there is no noise or resistance. (mostly on the small intestine meridian) Could the brain have been damaged by the poison following the optical nerve? or could the poison have followed the meridians? is it only systemic? any idea? thanks -simon bélair, montreal, canada Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 22, 2006 Report Share Posted September 22, 2006 Hi All, & Simon > A patient received a drop of a toxic cactus from mexico in her left eye. > Right after, her eye started to swell and became red. After a couple > of weeks she developed acute athritis on the thumb and her left > shoulder started to become very tight and weak. (tetany?) When she > moves her left arm we can hear noise and feel the tissuse rubbing like > wool. But when we do passive movement there is no noise or resistance. > (mostly on the small intestine meridian) Could the brain have been > damaged by the poison following the optic nerve? Possibly > or could the poison have followed the meridians? Possibly, but more likely that it is has affected the sensory and motor areas of the brain, via the optic nerve. > it only systemic? any idea? thanks, simon belair, montreal, canada 1. The history suggests that she should go immediately to an expert toxicologist / neurologist for conventional assessment (if that had not been done already). 2. Can you find out the Latin and English name of the cactus? This would allow a search on Medline/WWW to see what toxic signs are known for this plant, and what treatments have been tried. 3. Can she get a sample of juice from the same (or identical) cactus to a homeopathic pharmacy and ask them to make a 30C isopathic dilution for oral use, pending the exam in (1) and the lit search in (2), above. PS: A quick search of Medline for cactus AND toxic* gave only one hit that resembled your history in any way. Unfortunately, there was no abstract: CROWDER JI, SEXTON RR. KERACONJUNCTIVITIS RESULTING FROM THE SAP OF CANDELEBRA CACTUS AND THE PENCIL TREE. Arch Ophthalmol. 1964 Oct;72:476-84. No abstract available. PMID: 14184493 [PubMed - OLDMEDLINE for Pre1966] However, Medline had no hits for: conjunctivitis AND arthritis AND cactus or for: polymyalgia AND cactus or for: arthralgia AND cactus but penetration by cactus spines can cause synovitis/arthritis: Miller EB, Gilad A, Schattner A. Cactus thorn arthritis: case report and review of the literature. Clin Rheumatol. 2000;19(6):490-1. Department of Internal Medicine, Kaplan Medical Center, Rehovot, Israel. omiller Synovitis secondary to penetrating plant thorn injuries is an infrequently reported event. Despite its wide geographic distribution, thorns from the prickly pear cactus (Optunia ficusindica) are a rare source of this type of inflammatory arthritis. We hereby present an unusual case of an individual who developed an acute monoarthritis of the knee shortly after sustaining a penetrating cactus thorn injury. The clinical and pathophysiologic features of cactus thorn arthritis are reviewed and the unusual features present in this individual are highlighted. Treatment options, with an emphasis on rapid diagnosis and therapeutic interventions, are discussed. Increased physician awareness and recognition of this unusual but not rare entity are essential as a means of improving clinical outcome. PMID: 11147764 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] Best regards, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 28, 2006 Report Share Posted September 28, 2006 Hi, There is a database of plants that are injurious to human skin, and here is their section on the cactus family. I'm not sure if the info will be helpful or not for this specific case; however, the site is a great one to bookmark nonetheless. http://bodd.cf.ac.uk/BotDermFolder/BotDermC/CACT.html Here is the main web page. http://bodd.cf.ac.uk/ Holly Chinese Medicine , " " < wrote: > > Hi All, & Simon > > > A patient received a drop of a toxic cactus from mexico in her left eye. > > Right after, her eye started to swell and became red. After a couple > > of weeks she developed acute athritis on the thumb and her left > > shoulder started to become very tight and weak. (tetany?) When she > > moves her left arm we can hear noise and feel the tissuse rubbing like > > wool. But when we do passive movement there is no noise or resistance. > > (mostly on the small intestine meridian) Could the brain have been > > damaged by the poison following the optic nerve? > > Possibly > > > or could the poison have followed the meridians? > > Possibly, but more likely that it is has affected the sensory and motor > areas of the brain, via the optic nerve. > > > it only systemic? any idea? thanks, simon belair, montreal, canada > > 1. The history suggests that she should go immediately to an expert > toxicologist / neurologist for conventional assessment (if that had not > been done already). > > 2. Can you find out the Latin and English name of the cactus? This > would allow a search on Medline/WWW to see what toxic signs are > known for this plant, and what treatments have been tried. > > 3. Can she get a sample of juice from the same (or identical) cactus to > a homeopathic pharmacy and ask them to make a 30C isopathic > dilution for oral use, pending the exam in (1) and the lit search in (2), > above. > > PS: A quick search of Medline for cactus AND toxic* gave only one hit > that resembled your history in any way. Unfortunately, there was no > abstract: CROWDER JI, SEXTON RR. KERACONJUNCTIVITIS > RESULTING FROM THE SAP OF CANDELEBRA CACTUS AND THE > PENCIL TREE. Arch Ophthalmol. 1964 Oct;72:476-84. No abstract > available. PMID: 14184493 [PubMed - OLDMEDLINE for Pre1966] > > However, Medline had no hits for: conjunctivitis AND arthritis AND > cactus > > or for: polymyalgia AND cactus > > or for: arthralgia AND cactus > > but penetration by cactus spines can cause synovitis/arthritis: > > Miller EB, Gilad A, Schattner A. Cactus thorn arthritis: case report and > review of the literature. Clin Rheumatol. 2000;19(6):490-1. Department > of Internal Medicine, Kaplan Medical Center, Rehovot, Israel. > omiller Synovitis secondary to penetrating plant thorn > injuries is an infrequently reported event. Despite its wide geographic > distribution, thorns from the prickly pear cactus (Optunia ficusindica) are > a rare source of this type of inflammatory arthritis. We hereby present > an unusual case of an individual who developed an acute monoarthritis > of the knee shortly after sustaining a penetrating cactus thorn injury. > The clinical and pathophysiologic features of cactus thorn arthritis are > reviewed and the unusual features present in this individual are > highlighted. Treatment options, with an emphasis on rapid diagnosis > and therapeutic interventions, are discussed. Increased physician > awareness and recognition of this unusual but not rare entity are > essential as a means of improving clinical outcome. PMID: 11147764 > [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] > > Best regards, > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 28, 2006 Report Share Posted September 28, 2006 Hi All, Many thanks to Holly Goguen (TCM List) for her alert to a great database of plants injurious to skin. See: http://bodd.cf.ac.uk/Sitemap.html Best regards, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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