BEWARE OF POTENTIALLY LETHAL OIL OF WORMWOOD.Byline: Peter Modica Modica (mô`dēkä), city (1991 pop. 50,529), SE Sicily, Italy. It is the center of an agricultural region where livestock is raised. Known in ancient times as Motyca, it was a feudal county in the 12th cent. and enjoyed a high degree of independence from the 14th to 18th cent. Medical Tribune News Service Doctors are warning people about consuming oil of wormwood wormwood /worm·wood/ (werm´wood) a plant of the genus Artemisia, especially A. absinthium (common wormwood), which is used to make the liqueur absinthe., an herbal liquid that has been linked with serious health consequences in one patient. In last week's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, doctors reported the case of a 31-year-old man who was hospitalized after drinking oil of wormwood, which he had purchased over the Internet. After drinking 10 milliliters milliliter /mil·li·li·ter/ (mL) (-le?ter) one thousandth (10-3) of a liter. mil·li·li·ter (m  l of the oil, he became agitated, incoherent, disoriented and suffered seizures, reported Dr. Steven D. Weisbord and colleagues at George Washington University Medical Center in Washington, D.C. The patient then developed acute kidney failure and congestive heart failure, according to the report. After more than a week in the hospital, he was discharged. Weisbord and colleagues said the man had assumed the oil would produce the same druglike ``high'' that results from drinking a liqueur called absinthe absinthe (ăb`sĭnth), an emerald-green liqueur distilled from wormwood and other aromatics, including angelica root, sweet-flag root, star anise, and dittany, which have been macerated and steeped in alcohol. It was invented in the 1790s by a Dr.. Oil of wormwood is one of the ingredients in absinthe. While absinthe is banned in the United States and most countries, its ingredients - including oil of wormwood - are readily available over the Internet, they said. ``Consumers should be aware that substances they obtain over the Internet and in health-food stores could have toxic potential,'' said study co-author Dr. Paul L. Kimmel, a professor of medicine. ``The consumer has to be wary and consult a doctor if there is any question about use of these substances,'' he said. Besides being an ingredient in absinthe, oil of wormwood also is used in aromatherapy, Kimmel added. Kathryn L. Grant, an assistant professor of pharmacy at the University of Arizona in Tucson, agreed that toxic poisoning from unregulated herbal therapies is a serious concern. People are taking a risk when they consume an herbal product without knowing what is in it and whether it is safe, Grant said. ``If they are going to try one of these alternative remedies, buy it at a pharmacy and talk to the pharmacist about it,'' she advised. |
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