Delirio spastico

Dal British Medical Journal del 21 Marzo 1970:

Hallucinogenic Effect of Nutmeg
SIR,-A patient tells us it is common
knowledge among the drug-taking and
hippie sub-culture that taking nutmeg is a
potent way of taking a “trip.” The hallu-
cinogen in nutmeg is believed to be
myristicin.
An intelligent 19-year-old female with a
hysterical personality took one ounce of nut-
meg in water and orange juice. She had five
days previously taken L.S.D. with very little
effect. She had also experimented with canna-
bis, but the only noticeable effect of this was
that she developed a dry mouth. In contrast
to this the effects of nutmeg were marked.
At first she felt no effect, but after four hours
she felt cold and shivery. Six to eight hours
later she was vomiting severely. She saw
faces and the room appeared distorted, with
flashing lights and loud music. She felt a
different person and everything seemed un-
real. Time appeared to stand still. She felt
vibrations and twitches in her limbs. When
she shut her eyes she saw lights, black crea-
tures, red eyes and felt sucked into the
ground. Her mood was one of elation. She
was taken by her friends to be seen by one
of us (D.P.) as an emergency. She was ad-
mitted and quickly fell into a sound sleep.
For the next week, however, she felt that she
was walking in a cloud and complained that
her thinking was confused and that she found
it difficult to follow what people were say-
ing. Her concentration seemed poor and
lapses of attention were noticed.
The clinical features of this case have much
in common with the effects of nutmeg inges-
tion previously reported.’ The physical
symptoms were unpleasant, and the girl
states that she would not take nutmeg again
because of these. In her case vomiting was
the most severe physical side-effect. Severe
physical collapse following ingestion of nut-
meg occurs.2 A dose of 10-15 g. however is
required before acute intoxication occurs.3
Despite the side-effects, however, it is prob-
able that with the increased drug-taking
among young people more cases of nutmeg
intoxication will come to medical attention.
-We are, etc.,
D. J. PANAYOTOPOULOS.
D. D. CHISHOLM.
Ross Clinic,
Aberdeen.
REFERENCES
1 Fras, I., and Friedman, J. J., New York State
7ournal of Medicine, 1969, 69, 463.
2 Shulgin, A. T., Nature, 1966, 210, 380.
3 Truit, E. B., jun., Duritz, G., and Fbersberger,
E. M., Proceedings of the Society for Experi-
mental Biology and Medicine, 1963, 112, 647.

scritto da ATMB, sabato, 11 luglio 2009 alle 18:15