Lauraceae

Cinnamonum camphora

Camphor is a white crystalline substance, obtained from the tree Cinnamonum camphora (camphor tree), but the name has also been given to various volatile substances found in different aromatic plants. The symptoms of systemic camphor poisoning have been reviewed [ ].

Camphor has been used as a substance of abuse for many centuries, both by ingestion and by inhalation. Today it is found in many non-prescription vaporized or topical “cold cures,” topical musculoskeletal anesthetic rubs, “cold sore” formulations, sunscreens, and mothballs. It has also been used to procure an abortion [ ].

The acute effects of ingesting camphor were described by Louis Lewin in “Phantastica” (1924):

“After ingestion of 1.2 grains [72 g] the following symptoms occur: an agreeable warmth of the skin, general nervous excitation, a desire to move, tickling of the skin, and a peculiar feeling of ecstasy similar to drunkenness. One addict said that “he saw his destiny full of great possibilities clearly and distinctly before his eyes.” This state continued for one and a half hours. After ingestion of 2.4 grains there was an urgent desire to move. All movements were generally facilitated, and when walking the limbs were lifted far more than necessary. Intellectual thought was impossible. There was a flood of ideas, chasing each other with great rapidity, without any one being analysed. The individual lost perception of his identity. After vomiting, awareness returned, although distraction, forgetfulness and vacancy of mind persisted. On awaking the state of intoxication seemed to have been extraordinarily long and full of events of which the subject did not remember any. After 3 hours he was able to pull himself together and return to full consciousness, but the effect on the brain was so potent that unconsciousness and convulsions again occurred within an hour and lasted for half an hour, after which the subject gradually regained his full mental faculties and normal muscle function”.

Lewin also described the effects of chronic abuse:

“Loss of the sense of location and brief gaps in memory usually succeed gastric irritation and convulsions when camphor is taken habitually. The lost memories finally reappear, but in a very strange fashion, so that, according to the statement of an addict, all affairs, events, and things that he had forgotten seemed new, as if he had had no previous knowledge of them. Even after he recognized all the members of his family, the objects in his room seemed unfamiliar, as if they had just been given to him. In Slovakia convulsive states similar to epilepsy are so common in consumers of camphor that all cases of similar fits are directly attributed to it.