| The purpose for this study is to investigate the dosage effects of Sauropus androgynus on pulmonary functions and to better understand the epidemiology of the Sauropus androgynus poisoning. The subjects studied were 278 Sauropus androgynus users who had sought for telephone counseling in 1994-1995 through the Taipei National Toxicology Counseling Center, the Taipei Veterans General Hospital, the Taichung Veterans General Hospital, the National Chengkung University Hospital, and the Department of Health. Every subject was interviewed with a structured questionnaire. The questionnaire was designed to obtain the following: demographic information of the users, history of Sauropus androgynus consumption, health history, use of any weight-reducing drugs, clinical symptoms/signs (while using and after tennination of use), findings of pulmonary function tests and high resolution CT scan. The results of this study indicated that the use of Sauropus androgynus induced primarily cardio-pulmonary problems such as: dyspnea, heart bum, coughing, and palpitation. Also, it was determined that the dosage of Sauropus androgynus was not associated with weight-reduction. Educational level and occupation did not affect the intake of Sauropus androgynus. In addition, this study found that the symptoms of poisoning can appear no matter whether the stem or the leaf is eaten; or the juice is frozen or filtered; or any additive is added; and the way it is processed. In conclusion, the results noted, by adjusting for gender and body mass index (BMI) of the cases, the dosage of the vegetable was found to be significantly associated only with FEV1 and FVC, but not with FEV1/FVC, RV, DL0, and FIRCT (all p values larger than 0.05). |