Ergotism

Ergotism is a poisoning resulting from eating rye bread contaminated with the ergot fungus.

The main symptoms of the disease are:

1. Gangrene of fingers and toes
2. Diarrhea
3. Nausea
4. Vomit
5. Strong headache

In the Middle Ages, this disease was called "St. Anthony's fever", due to the inflammation of gangrene-affected tissues. Also at that time, there was a belief that a pilgrimage to the tombstone of St. Anthony would help people recover from this disease.

Ergotism, also known as St. Anthony's fire, is a type of poisoning that occurs when eating rye bread contaminated with the fungus ergot. This mushroom, whose scientific name is Claviceps purpurea, contains toxic compounds known as ergotamine and ergotoxin.

The main symptoms of ergotism are gangrene of the fingers and toes, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and severe headache. These symptoms can be extremely distressing and in some cases can lead to serious complications, including loss of limbs or even death.

In the Middle Ages, ergotism was often called St. Anthony's fever because the ergot fungus infected rye, which was used to make bread. The ergot grains affected by the fungus had a characteristic purple color, which gave the bread a special disease. People suffering from ergotism experienced severe pain, inflammation and gangrene of the affected tissues. At that time it was believed that a pilgrimage to the tombstone of St. Anthony could help cure this disease.

Modern methods of bread production and grain quality control can minimize the risk of rye bread becoming infected with ergot fungus. However, in certain regions of the world where rye bread is traditionally consumed, the potential danger of ergotism still exists.

Treatment for ergotism includes stopping the consumption of contaminated food and using appropriate medications. Surgery may be required if gangrene or other serious complications develop.

Overall, ergotism is a rare disease in the modern world due to improved grain processing methods and monitoring of food quality. However, the historical context of this disease reminds us of the importance of food safety and the need to constantly monitor the quality of food production to prevent similar poisonings in the future.

Ergotism or Ergotismus is a serious disease caused by eating rye or wheat bread contaminated with ergotoxin. Ergotoxin is contained in the ergot fungus of the Claviceporellacea family, which is pathogenic for grains and causes their blueness, so that bread could remain in the state of flour during the entire baking process without puffing up. Similar baked goods are used in many European countries. In addition, the “disease” could be caused by the abundance of people with a meager food supply, as well as the lack of medical care and obstruction of the gastrointestinal tract, against the background of septic damage to the affected organ in the event of spontaneous opening of the intestine. Ergotism, or ergotism disease, is a diagnosis of poisoning from cooked bread containing ergot. The range of manifestations of the disease is wide - from disorders of the digestive tract to gangrene of the extremities, while the period between ingestion of contaminated food and the appearance of the first symptoms of ergotism sometimes reaches several years. Poisoning with ergotine, among other toxic substances in bread, is observed more often than usual poisoning with other poisons. According to one study, the rate of ergotisine poisoning is 7.65 cases per 1 ton of baked rye bread. When compared to the rate of ergot poisoning, the rate of ergotism in bread is 35.6% of ergotine poisoning cases and 19.4% of ergotal poisoning cases. The main symptoms of ergotism are gangrenous deformation and inflammation of the tissues of the fingers. Contaminated rye flour contains ergotamine, a dangerous poison that leads to