Introduction -
It is a shrub growing 4 to 5 feet high and belongs to Family : Solanaceae.
It has two varieties -
- Niger (with purple flowers)
- Alba ( with white flowers)
All parts of Dhattura are poisonous, but fruit is more poisonous and also the seed.
Synonyms - धुतुर, कित्तव, कनक, कष्टकफल, मातुल, शठ, शिवशेकर, शिव प्रिय etc.
Active principles -
- Hyoscine
- Hyoscyamine
- Atropine
Signs and Symptoms
According to Ayurveda :
धुर्धुर कोपयोगेन सर्व पश्यति पीतकं| कंपलालामदच्छर्दिस्मृतिभ्रंशभ्रममान्वितः|| (अ.s.उ.40/144)
By consuming durdhuraka (dattura) as poison, the person sees all things yellow, develops tremors, salivation, toxicity, vomiting, loss of memory and giddiness.
According to Modern :
Main feature include :
- Sense of nausea and vomiting.
- Dryness of mouth, throat and unquenchable thirst.
- Dysphagia
- Burning pain in throat and stomach.
- Dysarthria (difficulty in talking)
- Bad taste in the mouth, These are soon followed by-
- Giddiness, staggering gait.
- Flushing face
- Shin becomes dry, hot and the temperature rises. It may be upto 420 C . Scarlet rash may be observed.
- Death is due to -
- Respiratory failure.
- Cardiac failure.
Fatal Dose -
50 to 100 seeds
Fatal Period -
Usually occurs within 24 hrs.
Treatment/ Management
According to Modern :
- Decontamination ( Stomach wash or emesis, activated charcoal)
- Antidote - Physostigmine 1 to 2 mg IM or IV at hourly intervals.
- Diazepam for convulsions.
- supportive measures.
According to Ayurveda :
- He should be made to vomit by using drugs of sweet taste or drink milk added sugar.
- The juice extracted from the fruit of वृन्तक if consumed in a dose of one pala it erradicates the poisonous effects of datura.
Post-mortem Appearance - Nothing specific
Medico-legal Importance
- Used primarily for criminal purposes such as highway robbery and kidnapping. Occasionally the quantity may exceed leading to death of the individual.
- Suicidal poisoning is rare.
- Accidental poisoning may occur in children or adults by taking the fruit by mistake. In some cases quacks have used for medicinal purposes resulting in tragedies.
- The excretion of the unchanged active principles of Datura takes about 24 hrs. Hence it is advisable to preserve a sample of urine to subjects it to chemical analysis whereas the stomach may not respond to the test.
