Nausea, diarrhea, convulsions, mental disorders… he eats a puffer fish offered by a friend and dies, overcome by its toxin

Il existe plus de 100 espèces de poissons-globes dans le monde. Brian Yurasits sur Unsplash

Magno, la quarantaine, a commencé à prendre peur lorsque leur bouche a commencé à s’engourdir. Il est mort après 35 jours d'hospitalisation.

A really bad idea. A 46-year-old Brazilian died on Saturday January 27 after eating a puffer fish offered by one of his friends, reports the New York Post. Magno spent thirty-five days in the hospital before passing away. The forty-year-old had never prepared such a dish. Problem, puffer fish contains an extremely powerful toxin, much more than cyanide, which no antidote can combat.

Magno and his friend started to get scared when their mouths started to go numb. Less than 10 minutes after feeling the first symptoms, the Brazilian suffered a cardiac arrest. The toxin spread through his body, reaching the brain. The doctors couldn't do anything.

Nausea, diarrhea, convulsions, mental disorders…

“Consuming pufferfish is the leading cause of food poisoning by tetrodotoxin, a potent water-soluble neurotoxin that can affect the central nervous system . It's one of the most violent toxins of marine species”, explains Le Vidal.

The medical work details the effects produced by this substance: “Burning sensation, numbness, tingling, and itching of the face and extremities, sometimes accompanied headache, epigastric pain, nausea, diarrhea, and/or vomiting. Secondly, paralysis appears, increasing respiratory distress, convulsions, mental disorders, cardiac arrhythmia.”

Puffure fish is a particularly popular dish in Japan, Korea and China, where it is called fugu. It is prepared only by specialists who have followed specific training and have mastered its cutting to perfection.

There are more than a hundred species of puffer fish in the world. They are distinguished by their ability to inflate their body and their ability to poison their predators.