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Clinical Observations on Toxic Effects of Xhosa Medicine


G. Solleder

Abstract

Toxic effects of Xhosa medicine causing morbidity and mortality were observed among inpatients in a mission hospital in the Ciskei. In all recorded cases the intake of Xhosa medicine was confirmed by the patient or his relatives, but no details are known about the nature of the substance used. An attempt was made to group the observations according to the main presenting features: dehydration, paralytic ileus, obstruction, anaemia, alterations of transaminases and blood urea, deterioration of an underlying disease, and severe respiratory distress in infants. Treatment was, with one exception, symptomatic, and the mortality rate was high.


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eISSN: 2078-5135
print ISSN: 0256-9574