Rapid responses are electronic comments to the editor. They enable our users
to debate issues raised in articles published on bmj.com. A rapid response
is first posted online. If you need the URL (web address) of an individual
response, simply click on the response headline and copy the URL from the
browser window. A proportion of responses will, after editing, be published
online and in the print journal as letters, which are indexed in PubMed.
Rapid responses are not indexed in PubMed and they are not journal articles.
The BMJ reserves the right to remove responses which are being
wilfully misrepresented as published articles or when it is brought to our
attention that a response spreads misinformation.
From March 2022, the word limit for rapid responses will be 600 words not
including references and author details. We will no longer post responses
that exceed this limit.
The word limit for letters selected from posted responses remains 300 words.
"We have had recent experience with renal toxicity caused by deliberate ingestion of psilocybin mushrooms, which are eaten for their hallucinogenic effects. Acute renal failure secondary to the recreational use of mushrooms is rarely reported."
Each of these statements is problematic. The authors give no details at all in their own case as to identity of the species of fungus consumed. That ARF secondary to recreational use of fungi (by implications hallucinogenic ones) causing renal failure is rarely reported can be easily explained. There is no evidence that they cause it. A brief glance at the only paper they reference on the subject shows that the subject did not state what kind of mushroom had been ingested, and the authors actually conclude that it was not a 'magic' mushroom that was the culprit but a Cortinarius. The subject had no psychedelic effect, just abdominal pain.
The real risk of eating 'magic' mushrooms is not that they are toxic but that the identity may be inaccurate and a toxic species eaten by mistake. The other risk is strictly legal, which is that our bizarre drug legislation has classed them with crack cocaine. There are no reports of serious harm resulting from ingestion of Psilocybe species other than can be attributed to the psychoactive effects of the Psilocybin they contain.
Competing interests:
No competing interests
02 October 2012
Edward G. Tuddenham
Emeritus Professor of Haemophilia. President of the London Natural History Society
Re: Deliberate ingestion of “magic” mushrooms may also cause renal failure
"We have had recent experience with renal toxicity caused by deliberate ingestion of psilocybin mushrooms, which are eaten for their hallucinogenic effects. Acute renal failure secondary to the recreational use of mushrooms is rarely reported."
Each of these statements is problematic. The authors give no details at all in their own case as to identity of the species of fungus consumed. That ARF secondary to recreational use of fungi (by implications hallucinogenic ones) causing renal failure is rarely reported can be easily explained. There is no evidence that they cause it. A brief glance at the only paper they reference on the subject shows that the subject did not state what kind of mushroom had been ingested, and the authors actually conclude that it was not a 'magic' mushroom that was the culprit but a Cortinarius. The subject had no psychedelic effect, just abdominal pain.
The real risk of eating 'magic' mushrooms is not that they are toxic but that the identity may be inaccurate and a toxic species eaten by mistake. The other risk is strictly legal, which is that our bizarre drug legislation has classed them with crack cocaine. There are no reports of serious harm resulting from ingestion of Psilocybe species other than can be attributed to the psychoactive effects of the Psilocybin they contain.
Competing interests: No competing interests