Kambo (drug)

Kambo, also known as vacina-do-sapo, or sapo (from Portuguese "sapo", lit. meaning "toad"), is the dried skin secretions of the kambô, a species of frog, used as a transdermal medicine, however evidence for its effectiveness is limited.

Kambo is usually used in a group setting, called a Kambo circle or Kambo ceremony. The effects on humans usually include tachycardia, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. A meta-review of 50 studies in which 11 cases of acute intoxication were examined found that extreme cases have included psychosis (occasionally severe), SIADH, kidney damage (including acute renal failure), pancreas damage, liver damage including toxic hepatitis, dermatomyositis, esophageal rupture, seizures, and death, although evidence for these is limited and in most cases was precipitated by medical contraindications and misuse.

Kambo, which originated as a folk medicine practice among some indigenous peoples in the Amazon basin, 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 kambo secretion directly to the burn. Promoters claim that kambo helps with several illnesses or injuries, but there is no scientific evidence that it is an effective treatment.

It seems to be particularly dangerous to take a kambo with large quantities of water. Doing that is associated with SIADH and severe electrolyte imbalances: changes in plasma and urine osmolarity, hypokalemia, hypomagnesemia and hypophosphatemia. Naloxone is under study as a possible antidote; hospital treatment also includes medicines to protect organs from damage and restore electrolyte function.