Hospitalized after eating Chinese clematis root

(Baonghean.vn) - That is Mrs. Tran Thi Ng. (68 years old), residing in Da Loc hamlet, Nam Kim commune, Nam Dan district - suffered from severe food poisoning and had to be hospitalized for emergency care.

On the afternoon of January 17, after two days of emergency care and treatment, Ms. Ng was out of danger, her health was gradually recovering and she was in the process of being discharged from the hospital.

Duc Tho District General Hospital - where Ms. Ng. is being treated. Photo: Khanh An

According to relatives, on January 15, Ms. Ng. went to her garden and dug up a root that looked like ginseng. Therefore, Ms. Ng. thought that this was a precious medicinal ginseng root, so she washed it and cut a piece to try.

After 30 minutes of eating the "strange ginseng", Ms. Ng. started to have a stomachache, headache, dizziness, vomiting, diarrhea, and fatigue. Relatives promptly took Ms. Ng. to Duc Tho District General Hospital for emergency treatment.

Here, after examination and necessary procedures, doctors diagnosed Ms. Ng. with severe poisoning. Ms. Ng. was given emergency treatment, detoxification, IV fluids, resuscitation, and intestinal antibiotics by doctors and nurses, and her health is gradually recovering.

It is known that the root that Ms. Ng. mistakenly thought was "strange ginseng" and tried to eat and got seriously poisoned was actually the root of the plant Thuong luc.

Roots and plants of the ivy plant. Photo from the Internet

Phytolacca acinosa Roxb. (P. esculenta Van Houtte) is a plant that has been introduced to our country in recent decades. In our country, there is already an American Phytolacca species (Phytolacca americana L. or Phytolacca decandra L.), which is also called elephant ginseng because the plant grows quickly, after 6 - 7 months it produces a root as big as a wrist, very similar to a ginseng root (this is where the fatal mistake comes from).

In fact, the herb is not a strange medicine to Oriental medicine, but it is classified as a "low-grade" medicine because it is toxic, should not be used frequently and for a long time, so it is rarely used by doctors./.

Khanh An