Kambo cleanse

A kambo cleanse, also known as a kambo circle or kambo ceremony, kambo, vacina-do-sapo, or sapo (from Portuguese "sapo", lit. "frog" in Portuguese and "toad" in Spanish), is a purge using skin poisons of the kambô, a species of frog. The effects on humans usually include nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea; multiple deaths have been associated with its use. Kambo, which originated as a folk medicine practice among indigenous peoples of the Amazon, is also administered as an alternative medicine treatment in the West, often as a pseudoscientific cleanse or detox. The ceremony involves burning an arm or leg and applying the poison directly to the burn. Proponents claim that kambo helps with a number of illnesses or injuries, but there is no scientific evidence that it is an effective treatment of any kind.

Kambo cleanse
A kambo ceremony: the frog poison is being applied to the burnt skin
Alternative therapy
ClaimsIt is claimed that kambo will help with a number of issues including, depression, anxiety, addiction, fertility, fever, mental clarity, negative energy and the cleansing of the body
BenefitsPlacebo
This article is part of a series on
Alternative and pseudo‑medicine
Traditional medicine

History

Kambo is traditionally practiced by Panoan-speaking indigenous groups in the southeast Amazon rainforest, such as the Mayoruna, Matses, Amahuaca, Kashinawa, Katukina, Yawanawá and the Kaxinawá.[1][2][3] Traditional practitioners claim that it aids fertility, cleanses the body and soul, increases strength and brings good luck on hunts.[4][5] They use it for expelling "panema" (bad spirit), and to induce abortions.[3]

Since the mid-20th-century,[2] kambo has also been practiced in urban regions of Brazil.[4] In 2004, Brazil banned the sale and marketing of kambo.[6] Import is illegal in Chile.[7] Outside of South America, it first became popular as an alternative therapy in the late 2010s.[8]

In non-indigenous use, the frog toxin is described and marketed as a "detox" treatment, cleanse,[9] purge,[8] and as a "vaccine" which is "good for everything".[10] Kambo has been marketed both as a "scientific" remedy, with emphasis on the biochemistry, and as a "spiritual" remedy, with emphasis on its indigenous origins.[2] Purging (deliberate vomiting) has been a popular treatment since the 1800s.[9] "Detox" has been described by Edzard Ernst, emeritus professor of complementary medicine, as a term for conventional medical treatments for addiction which has been "hijacked by entrepreneurs, quacks and charlatans to sell a bogus treatment".[11]

The ceremony
The kambo ritual. A) Phyllomedusa bicolor. B) Collecting the frog's secretions. C) Applying kambo to burns on the skin. D) Closeup of skin marks.[4]
Phyllomedusa bicolor

"Kambô" is a common name of Phyllomedusa bicolor, an Amazonian tree frog also known as the blue-and-yellow frog, bicolored tree-frog, giant monkey frog, giant leaf frog or waxy-monkey tree frog ("sapo" means "frog" in Portuguese and "toad" in Spanish).[12]

To collect the poison for the ceremony, a frog is caught, then tied tightly to four sticks placed in the ground, and its limbs stretched between the sticks. This causes the frog to become stressed enough to activate its defence mechanism, and secrete a substance containing peptides from its skin.[9] Once the poison has been scraped off the frog it is usually released back into the wild. The poison is then left to dry.[9] In native use, small dots are deliberately burned on the skin, and a small dose of the frog secretions is applied to the open wounds.[3]

Outside South America, a kambo ceremony can involve just two people, the practitioner and participant, or a number of participants at once, which is known as a kambo circle. Participants are encouraged to bring plenty of water, a towel and a bucket.[8] There are usually yoga mats on the floor and the ceremony room, which is often the practitioner's living room, is heavily incensed.[8]

During the ceremony the skin of the participant is deliberately burnt multiple times, usually on the upper arm or leg, by the practitioner using a smouldering stick or vine.[9] The frog secretions, which have been reconstituted with saliva or water, are then pasted on to the burnt skin.[9] Outside South America, the ceremony is performed in a group or circle, where the participants are encouraged to shout "Viva" when one of them vomits into their bucket.[9][13] Short-term effects include violent nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, edema (swelling) of the face, headaches, and tachycardia. The secretions seem to be vasoactive (affecting the circulation), which may explain why they are absorbed so rapidly.[3] In native practice, the secretions are removed from the wounds after 10 to 15 minutes, ending the acute symptoms.[3]

Joaquim Luz, a Yamanawa leader, criticized commercial sales and the use of kambo without the preparation or permission of indigenous peoples, saying that users were put at risk, including the risk of death.[6] Other native groups have also expressed concerns.[14]

Claims

Users and practitioners of kambo claim that the alternative medicine helps with a wide variety of issues and conditions. These claims include treating addiction, depression, and chronic pain,[8][13][15] reducing fevers,[8] increasing fertility,[8] boosting energy and physical strength,[5][13] and improving mental clarity.[13] It is also claimed that kambo removes negative energy[8] and cleanses the soul and body.[5]

There is currently no scientific basis to these claims. There is no solid medical evidence on how the frog toxins work, whether they are useful for treating anything, and whether they can be used safely: no clinical trials have tested them on humans, as of November 2019.[3] Reports of adverse events are numerous, including for use with experienced guidance.[3]

Kym Jenkins of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, in a Sydney Morning Herald article, said "people with mental illness are a more vulnerable group anyway for a variety of reasons. If you're feeling very anxious or very depressed ... you're automatically more vulnerable and you could be more susceptible to people advertising or marketing a quick fix. I do have concerns that people can be preyed upon when they are more vulnerable."[16] Kambo has been described by a toxicologist as a risky, potentially life-threatening procedure.[8]

Pharmacology

The frog secretes a range of small chemical compounds of a type called peptides, which have a number of different effects. Peptides found in the frog secretions include dermorphins and deltorphins, which bind to opioid receptors, sauvagine, a vasodilator, and dermaseptin, which exhibits antimicrobial properties in vitro.[3][17] Various other substances such as phyllomedusin, phyllokinin, caerulein, and adrenoregulin are also present.[17] There is active medical research into the peptides found in the skin secretions of Phyllomedusa bicolor, focusing on discovering their biological effects. There have been some preclinical trials in mice and rats, but no phase-1 tests or clinical trials of safety in humans, as of November 2019.[3]

Notable deaths

In Brazil in 2008, a person was charged with illegal exercise of medicine and felony murder after administering kambo toxins to a business colleague, who died; the deceased's son, who said his father had pressured him into participating, suffered more minor effects.[18][4] In Chile in 2009, Daniel Lara Aguilar, who suffered from chronic discopathy, died immediately after taking kambo administered by a local shaman in a mass healing cermony; the autopsy was inconclusive due to pre-existing conditions.[6][19] The medical literature reported the 2018 case in Italy of a person with no known preexisting conditions besides obesity, who seems, according to autopsy reports, to have died of cardiac arrhythmia while under the effects of kambo use.[20][4] In March 2019, kambo practitioner Natasha Lechner suffered a cardiac arrest and died while receiving kambo.[8] In April 2019, a homicide investigation was opened into the death by "severe cerebral edema" of a young person who had taken kambo toxins in Chile; the import of the frog and its secretions is illegal in Chile.[7][21]

See also

References
  1. Daly, J. W.; Caceres, J.; Moni, R. W.; Gusovsky, F.; Moos, M.; Seamon, K. B.; Milton, K.; Myers, C. W. (1992). "Frog secretions and hunting magic in the upper Amazon: identification of a peptide that interacts with an adenosine receptor". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 89 (22): 10960–10963. Bibcode:1992PNAS...8910960D. doi:10.1073/pnas.89.22.10960. ISSN 0027-8424. PMID 1438301.
  2. Lima, Edilene Coffaci de; Labate, Beatriz Caiuby (15 October 2007). ""Remédio da Ciência" e "Remédio da Alma": os usos da secreção do kambô (Phyllomedusa bicolor) nas cidades". CAMPOS - Revista de Antropologia Social. 8 (1). doi:10.5380/cam.v8i1.9553.
  3. Bartels, Emiel Jacob Henri; Dekker, Douwe; Amiche, Mohamed (26 November 2019). "Dermaseptins, Multifunctional Antimicrobial Peptides: A Review of Their Pharmacology, Effectivity, Mechanism of Action, and Possible Future Directions". Frontiers in Pharmacology. 10: 1421. doi:10.3389/fphar.2019.01421. PMC 6901996. PMID 31849670. robust data on pharmacokinetics, efficacy and safety in humans are currently lacking (please note that this is not a very reliable medical source; see talk tab)
  4. Silva, Francisco Vaniclei Araújo da; Monteiro, Wuelton Marcelo; Bernarde, Paulo Sérgio (2019). ""Kambô" frog (Phyllomedusa bicolor): use in folk medicine and potential health risks". Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical. 52: e20180467. doi:10.1590/0037-8682-0467-2018. ISSN 1678-9849. PMID 30942261.
  5. Schwarcz, Joe (29 September 2019). "The Right Chemistry: No evidence-based science supports kambo ritual". The Montreal Gazette. Archived from the original on 2 October 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  6. Mundo, Leire Ventas. "Kambó, el polémico veneno que se usa en Sudamérica como medicina para curarlo todo". BBC News Mundo (in Spanish).
  7. Vallejos, Ricardo Pérez. "San Felipe: joven mujer murió tras un ritual de sanación con veneno de rana". La Nación (in Spanish).
  8. Scherer, Jennifer (7 November 2019). "Australians Are Using This Amazonian Frog Poison Aa A Controversial Alternative Medicine". SBS. Archived from the original on 27 November 2019. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  9. Mariana, Jasmine, Lauren, Van Zeller, Brown, Effron (29 March 2017). "This Amazonian tree frog's poison has become part of the latest supercleanse trend". ABC News. Archived from the original on 29 March 2017. Retrieved 15 December 2019.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  10. Bernarde, Paulo Sérgio; Santos, Rosimeyri Aparecida (20 June 2011). "Utilização medicinal da secreção ("vacina-do-sapo") do anfíbio kambô (Phyllomedusa bicolor) (Anura: Hylidae) por população não-indígena em Espigão do Oeste, Rondônia, Brasil". Biotemas. 22 (3). doi:10.5007/2175-7925.2009v22n3p213.
  11. Mohammadi, Dara (5 December 2014). "You can't detox your body. It's a myth. So how do you get healthy?". The Observer.
  12. den Brave, Paul S; Bruins, Eugéne; Bronkhorst, Maarten W G A (2014). "Phyllomedusa bicolor skin secretion and the Kambô ritual". Journal of Venomous Animals and Toxins Including Tropical Diseases. 20 (1): 40. doi:10.1186/1678-9199-20-40. ISSN 1678-9199. PMC 4582952. PMID 26413084.
  13. Lavoipierre, Angela (7 September 2018). "Tree frog poison being used as an alternative medicine". ABC News. Archived from the original on 7 September 2018. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  14. Silva, Francisco Vaniclei Araújo da; Monteiro, Wuelton Marcelo; Bernarde, Paulo Sérgio (2019). ""Kambô" frog (Phyllomedusa bicolor): use in folk medicine and potential health risks". Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical. 52. doi:10.1590/0037-8682-0467-2018. PMID 30942261.
  15. Duncan, Elly (22 November 2019). "South Australian Pair Banned Indefinitely From Providing Frog Poison Health Treatment 'Kambo'". SBS. Archived from the original on 22 November 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  16. Hall, Bianca (17 May 2019). "Pedlars of new age cures are 'preying' on mentally ill, doctors warn". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 17 May 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  17. Kwen-Jen Chang; Frank Porreca; James Woods (11 December 2003). "Chapter 11: Deltorphins". The Delta Receptor. CRC Press. p. 176. ISBN 978-0-8247-5858-5.
  18. Menocchi, Simone (25 April 2008). "Investigada morte de homem que tomou 'vacina do sapo' - Geral". Estadão (in Portuguese).
  19. "Buscan a "chamanes" por muerte de paciente que recibió veneno de rana". BioBioChile - La Red de Prensa Más Grande de Chile (in Spanish). 22 December 2009.
  20. Aquila, I; Gratteri, S; Sacco, MA; Fineschi, V; Magi, S; Castaldo, P; Viscomi, G; Amoroso, S; Ricci, P (May 2018). "The Biological Effects of Kambo: Is There a Relationship Between its Administration and Sudden Death?". Journal of Forensic Sciences. 63 (3): 965–968. doi:10.1111/1556-4029.13641. PMID 28886207.
  21. Ries, Secretaría. "Chile: una joven muere tras un tratamiento ritual con el veneno de la rana kambó". InfoCatólica (in Spanish).

Further reading
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