"Mushroom madness" in the Papua New Guinea Highlands: a case of nicotine poisoning?
"Mushroom madness" is a condition that was first reported in the Western Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea. This condition was originally blamed on the ingestion of hallucinogenic mushrooms. This was later proven to be incorrect and this condition was explained instead as a form of collective hysteria. There is, however, ethnographic, phytochemical and pharmacological evidence to suggest that "mushroom madness" was actually a state of acute nicotine poisoning produced by the ingestion of toxic quantities of tobacco.
Thomas
Benjamin
B
New Guinea Entheobotany Project, Ashgrove Queensland, Australia.
D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006212:Hallucinations / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D009145:Mushroom Poisoning / Q000175:diagnosis*; D009538:Nicotine / Q000009:adverse effects*; D010219:Papua New Guinea
D009538:Nicotine