Antidotes

ANTIDOTA (from Greek anti-against and do-tos-given), antidotes, substances which, in contact with poisons, convert the latter into non-poisonous or low-poisonous compounds. In ancient and medieval times, attempts were made to find a universal antidote—Antidotum universale, Alexipharmakon. Some substances are still widely used today as antidotes: tannin—in cases of alkaloid poisoning (excluding morphine), because it forms insoluble salts with them; magnesium oxide—in cases of acid poisoning, that is, it converts them into salts; milk—in cases of poisoning by acids, alkalis, and heavy metal salts (but it must not be used in cases of poisoning by phosphorus, fern, santonin, and Spanish flies!), as the casein of milk forms poorly soluble acid albuminates with acids, alkaline albuminates with alkalis, and insoluble albuminate compounds with heavy metal salts. When using antidotes, as a rule, the antidote itself should not be poisonous to the organism, because it often has to be given in excess. However, exceptions to this rule are not uncommon: for example, the use of atropine as an antidote in cases of poisoning by fly agaric, opium, or morphine is precisely dosed; strychnine—in cases of poisoning by narcotics, etc.; even non-poisonous tannin is avoided in excess when treating alkaloid poisoning, because the insoluble compound formed with the alkaloid may dissolve again in an excess of tannin. Along with the use of an antidote, other means are used in cases of poisoning—gastric lavage, laxatives, stimulants (camphor, caffeine, ether, wine). These stimulants eliminate only the consequences of the poisoning, which is why they are called dynamic antidotes. In chronic poisoning by mercury, lead, and other substances that are not excreted from the organism for a long time, it is necessary to form new soluble compounds in the latter for their removal via urine, lungs, sweat, etc. Agents with the help of which the removal (elimination) of poisons from the organism is accelerated are called eliminatory antidotes, for example: potassium iodide, potassium bromide, potassium acetate, NH₃, O, etc. There are separate tables of antidotes included in the Pharmacopoeia (VII), in medical calendars, and in various reference books.