van Schalkwyk Johan, Davidson James, Palmer Barry, Hope Virginia
Department of Medicine, Auckland City Hospital, Auckland.
N Z Med J. 2006 May 5;119(1233):U1958.
Heavy metals are commonly incorporated into Ayurvedic preparations as ashes or 'bhasmas'. A widely disseminated belief within Ayurvedic medicine is that these heavy metals can be valuable therapeutic components. Western toxicology refutes this contention. We report eight cases of lead poisoning occurring in or near the Auckland region of New Zealand. In all cases, poisoning was attributable to consumption of Ayurvedic 'herbal medicines'. Whole blood lead levels ranged from 1.5 to 6.9 micromol/L. Six patients had symptomatic lead poisoning, requiring treatment with chelation therapy. A high index of suspicion is required to detect lead poisoning, which should be suspected in people taking Ayurvedic remedies, especially if they have associated anaemia or abdominal symptoms.
重金属通常作为灰烬或“bhasmas”被纳入阿育吠陀制剂中。阿育吠陀医学中一个广泛传播的观点是，这些重金属可能是有价值的治疗成分。西方毒理学驳斥了这一观点。我们报告了在新西兰奥克兰地区或其附近发生的8例铅中毒病例。在所有病例中，中毒均归因于食用阿育吠陀“草药”。全血铅水平在1.5至6.9微摩尔/升之间。6名患者出现有症状的铅中毒，需要进行螯合疗法治疗。检测铅中毒需要高度的怀疑指数，服用阿育吠陀药物的人应怀疑有铅中毒，特别是如果他们伴有贫血或腹部症状。
