Experts issue severe warning against frog poison detox trend as British man, 40, dies
Experts have warned people not to participate in a health trend that involves applying a substance made from the chemicals given off by a frog.
The Telegraph reported that a 40-year-old Brit named Kristian Trend is suspected to have died after participating in a ceremony where the substance, called kambo, was used.
They report that Trend collapsed after the ceremony at an address in Leicester last month, and that kambo is made from the poisonous secretions of a South American frog.
It is then applied to sores on a person's body during a ceremony, and people who use it claim it can cleanse the body of sickness and strengthen the human immune system, though health experts are sceptical that it has any benefits at all.
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Trend's mother Angie said her son had told her he was 'going to cleanse himself', and that they haven't yet received the results of his cause of death.
She also said that Kristian had recovered from Burkitt lymphoma, a dangerous form of cancer that had almost killed him and left him in hospital for four months recovering.
Pharmaceutical expert Professor Penny Ward told the Mail that the proof that the poisonous secretions from the frog had health benefits just wasn't there.
There's been research into the subject but it hasn't demonstrated any boost to people's health.
She said: "While there has been medical interest in a number of the peptides produced in the skin secretion, there are no proven health benefits for any of these at present.
"In contrast there have been multiple case reports of a range of toxicities and several deaths in users across multiple countries. Making sure the general public are made aware of the dangers of this substance may stop people seeking to use it."
Toxicology management specialist Bryan Kuhn also told them there was 'no evidence to support any therapeutic benefits for any medical condition'.
Some communities in the Amazon use kambo for ceremonies, which they get by catching the poisonous frogs and stretching them out over branches, with the frog being poked to incite it to secrete chemicals which are then scraped off the amphibian.
The frogs are then let go.
The dangers of using it for medicinal purposes has been linked to deaths in the past, as in 2023 The Guardian reported that kambo had been linked to several deaths around the world.
In 2021, 46-year-old Jarrad Antonovich died after using kambo at a festival in Australia, and in 2019, 39-year-old Natasha Lechner died in Mullumbimby.
Researchers in Brazil explained that the poisonous substance is applied to the burns on the skin and can lead to an increased heart rate, sweating and severe vomiting.
A fundraising tribute for Kristian has been set up on Much Loved, with his family saying on his Facebook page: "We would like to raise as much money as possible for such an amazing charity that meant the world to him and us as a family. Fly high big bro. we love you always, Mum, Kayla and Bligh."
Joe Harker