title: Mercury poisoning caused by Chinese folk prescription (CFP): A case report and analysis of both CFP and quackery.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Though as a heavy metal, mercury has a long history in the culture of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Also until now, we can still find evidence of mercury in some Chinese folk prescriptions (CFP)s in China.
  
  
  METHODS
  We report a case of a 35-year-old rural woman, who took almost 35 g of Hg2O orally to treat her itchy skin followed a folk prescription of an unlicensed practitioners engaging in quackery (UPEQ), which lead to dark red bloody stool and mucus, nausea, and numbness. She sought help from some general hospitals, which brought her only misdiagnosis. Only after a mercury level test conducted by Chongqing Prevention and Treatment Center for Occupational Diseases (CPOD) confirmed her mercury intoxication, she was treated with chelation therapy with sodium dimercaptosulphonat and showed significant improvements.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Confused by differences between TCM and CFP, people might take dangerous remedies without realizing the consequences; not only could it exacerbate their primary disease, but it could lead to unexpected and disastrous results.
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene, School of Public Health and Management, Research Center for Medicine and Social Development, Innovation Center for Social Risk Governance in Health, Canada-China-New Zealand Joint Laboratory of Maternal and Fetal Medicine, Chongqing Medical University Department of Occupational Medicine, Chongqing Prevention and Treatment Center for Occupational Diseases Department of Statistics, School of Public Health and Management, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Tingting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mo
authors.forename: Si
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Yongyi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Dong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.forename: Yinyin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xia
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional / Q000009:adverse effects*; D008630:Mercury Poisoning / Q000209:etiology*; D011781:Quackery