Ayahuasca: uma abordagem toxicológica do uso ritualístico
Archives of Clinical Psychiatry (São Paulo) December 1, 2005 Maria Carolina Meres Costa, Mariana Cecchetto Figueiredo, Sílvia de Oliveira Santos Cazenave 17 citations
Ayahuasca tea has been used for millennia by indigenous peoples of South America as a spiritual and ritual instrument with extreme religiosity. In the last century, non-indigenous sects began using the tea, and this use has increased since its legalization for religious purposes in Brazil. The tea's action is due to alkaloids in the plants used in its preparation: the vine Banisteriopsis caapi and the leaves of the shrub Psychotria viridis. Observed effects include hallucinations, hypertension, tachycardia, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. These actions can cause more serious effects on the body and thus deserve greater attention from health professionals to promote studies that allow religious use without greater biological harm and to raise user awareness of possible toxic effects.