Toxic plants: the dangers of going back to nature

Abstract

In France, approximately 5% of calls to their National Poisons Information Service (CAPTV) are due to plants. Poisoning from plants affects mainly children, and it is generally not life-threatening. Cases in adults are far rarer, and often result from a suicide attempt, a mix-up with an edible plant, or are due to a plant being used for addictive or therapeutic purposes. This type of poisoning can be serious and may even be fatal. This article describes plants for which life-threatening poisonings, or even fatalities have been reported, and whose toxicity is mainly cardiac and/or neurologically related. After a short description of each of the following plants: aconite, belladonna, colchicum, datura, digitalis, yew, oleander, myrtle and veratrum album, the clinical, therapeutic, and analytical aspects of each of the corresponding poisons are discussed.