Post created by Rachelle
The lesson in this post: always be informed on what you are putting in your body and be mindful of your health. Sometimes danger comes in very unexpected packages.
I have been watching the TV series Ugly Betty on Hulu. In one of the episodes I recently watched, Betty is given some perfume as a gift. When Betty sprays the perfume on herself, she becomes overly energetic, she is more physical than usual, even with those she does not know, she sees colors much more vibrantly, her skin is irritated and itchy, and she becomes very emotional. The climax of Betty’s experience with the perfume occurs when she experiences such intense anger toward her friend that she uses a garbage can to break the window of his store in an attempt to confront him. Betty then becomes unconscious and has no recollection of what she did.
The doctor runs tests on Betty and discovers many drugs in her system. It turns out that the perfume had been poisoned in an attempt to kill the woman who, unaware that it was dangerous, gave the perfume to Betty. The drugs were able to enter her system, causing the erratic behavior. The most interesting drug (and the only one I could really understand) was Bufo alvarius, or as the doctor clarifies, toad venom. I decided to do some more research into this venom and see if Betty’s symptoms were in line with its effects on people.
Toads have paratoid glands on their bodies that secrete fluid as a protective measure when the toad feels threatened. The secretions from some species of adult toads, such as the giant and marine toads, are toxic, and can cause symptoms similar to mild poisoning if ingested or brought in through the mucus membranes of the nose, mouth, and eyes. Generally, humans experience pain, dizziness, vomiting, temporary blindness, and in the worst cases, death. Toad venom can also cause a “psychedelic” experience in some cases because of the presence of the hallucinogens bufotenin and indolealkylamines as well as dopamine, which the brain uses to communicate pleasure. Lastly, the fluids contain epinephrine which can cause a sudden jolt of energy to the muscles.
As for Betty, some of her symptoms do seem to be explained by the presence of toad venom in the perfume, such as the intense emotional outbursts, her vivid color experiences, and eventual loss of the memory that could be caused by the hallucinogens, and her increase in energy possibly from the epinephrine. Based on my research, my suspicion is that the venom in the perfume particles got into the mucus membranes of her nose, mouth, or eyes and then entered her system to cause the symptoms along with the other drugs in the perfume. I am glad that Betty had people looking out for her so she was able to survive her encounter with toad venom and go on to appear in more episodes.