of eating poisonous mushrooms (toadstools). There are some seventy to eighty species of mushrooms that are poisonous to man; many of them contain toxic alkaloids (muscarine, agaricine, phalline). Among the mushrooms that most commonly cause poisoning are Amanita muscaria. A. phalloides, and the related destroying angels. The ingestion of A.muscaria (fly agaric), which contains muscarine and other toxic alkaloids, is soon followed by nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, excessive salivation, perspiration, watering of the eyes, slowed and difficult breathing, dilated pupils, confusion, and excitability. Illness usually begins within six hours after eating the mushrooms, and recovery takes place within twenty-four hour period. A. phalloides, the death cap, or death cup, is far deadlier than the muscarine type; it contains heat-stable peptide toxins, phalloidin and two amanitins, that damage cells throughout the body. Within six to twelve hours after eating the mushrooms, violent abdominal pain, vomiting, and bloody diarrhea appear, causing rapid loss of fluid from the tissues and intense thirst. Signs of sever involvement of the liver, kidneys, and central nervous system soon appear; these effects can include a decrease in urinary output and a lowering of blood sugar. This condition leads to coma, which in more than fifty percent of the incidents, results in death. The species Gyromitra (Helvella) esculenta contains a toxin that is ordinarily removed during cooking, but a few persons are highly susceptible to it. The chemical nature of the toxin has not been determined, but it is a source of monomethylhydrazine, which affects the central nervous system and induces hemolytic jaundice. In the pictures at the end of the report, the second page includes pictures of the most common mushrooms ( These include poisonous, and non-poisonous ). Amanita PoisoningsSome victims of severe Amanita poisonings have been successfully treated with a combin...
