Antimony and Emetics

Hello Poison Friends! We have discussed quite a few heavy metals, but not all of them. While we did mention Antimony awhile back, we did not give it the attention it deserves, so this would be a great time to do so. Before getting too deep into Antimony, however, a review on purging with emetics and the history there concerning the "rebalancing of humors" as well as the more modern "ridding oneself of toxins," is in order.

One emetic that is more recent in our history is Ipecac. Technically, or medicinally, it went by the name Syrup of Ipecac. Parents, here in America at least, were told by the American Association of Pediatricians to keep a bottle in their homes at all times in case of children accidentally poisoning themselves. What we have learned since the late 1990s however is that not only is Ipecac not really effective at treating poisoning cases, but it is also toxic and can lead to its own complications including irritation of the GI tract and airways, seizures, and heart problems. There are now more efficient and safe ways to treat cases of poisoning that do not involve forced vomiting.

Throughout history, people have leaned on various toxic substances to cause themselves to vomit or that would induce diarrhea as a way of healing or keeping oneself healthy. It doesn't sound pleasant but what they used made it even less so. Antimony does cause GI distress including vomiting and diarrhea and can also lead to muscle weakness, gastric ulcers, seizures, kidney disease, cardiovascular diseases, neurological disease, respiratory distress, and blistering of the skin if topically applied. It has also been found to be carcinogenic. Acute use at high dosages, or chronic use at any dose, could lead to poisoning and death. People used Antimony medicinally (as Tartar emetic, namely) for a number of different ailments including epilepsy, syphilis, tuberculosis, and GI distress of all sorts. It was even used for alcoholism, and in some countries, it still is. In centuries past, they even had accessories to go along with their toxic medicine. So let's go through the history of these substances and you know some interesting and familiar names will pop up along the way including a Biblical character/Babylonian king, Isaac Newton, a King of France, and a founding father with a penchant for excessive bleeding and purging.

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