Re: Is it true that bezoars were used as an antidote to poisoning?

Basically, the answer to your question is yes, bezoars have been used as antidotes to poisons. Bezoars are (usually) animal concretions (aggregates) that occur in the stomach or gall bladder. Gall stones can be considered an example of bezoars but usually one means an accretion in the stomach or intestine. The term has been used in Western medicine, far less frequently now, for any medicine that helped stomach and intestinal diseases. It is still used sometimes for accretions that form after ingestion of some substances or after some types of surgery. Bezoars of animal origin are still used as medicines in traditional Chinese and Vietnamese medicine and probably other cultures.

Following are three excerpts, slightly edited, for web sites I found on bezoars, with URL and refernece given. Please note that these are quotes of copyrighted material so cite the source if used.

1. Bizarre Bezoars by Kumar Pandian

"A bezoar is any swallowed foreign material that accumulates and stays in any part of the GI tract. They can occur in the small/large bowel, stomach and even the esophagus. The origin of the word "bezoar" can be traced back to either the Arabic badzehr or the Persian padzahr, both of which roughly translate to "antidote" or "counter poison". The Arabs and Persians used the word originally to refer to the greenish hard concretions that are usually found in the fourth stomach of the Syrian goat, which they had the strange fortune of consuming in large quantities. These concretions were then sold to Europeans by some clever chap as having "medicinal" properties. And thus it came to be highly prized by the Europeans, who wholeheartedly believed these "bezoar-stones" to have excellent medicinal and anti-poisoning properties. Hence the word "bezoar" found its way into the halls of medicine, where it was eventually adopted into its present form."

"The common denominator among most of bezoars is a clear association with decreased motility and inadequate peristalsis. Gastric bezoars frequently form post gastric surgery and/or post vagotomy that reduces motility/clearance of the stomach. Removing or damaging the antrum decreases stomach clearance of undigestible materials. . . . Some studies indicate that bezoars can form in up to 12% of post gastrectomy patients. Other predisposing factors to bezoar formation are:
1) Incomplete mastication, most frequently secondary to bad dentition.
2) An increased intake of vegetable fiber, oranges and especially, persimmons. "

"Makeup of Bezoars:
As explained above, bezoars can be made up of virtually any "foreign" material. Phytobezoars are the most common to be found in the very young, the elderly and in those with previous gastric surgery. They are comprised of primarily cellulose, lignin, fruit tannins, which are found in all parts of a plant. Phytobezoars come in two flavours:
1) Diospyrobezoars: made up of persimmon fruits. These can and do occur in people who have normal gastric function.
2) Nonpersimmon phytobezoars: made up of plant, fruit material, in other words anything not caused by the persimmon fruit. This almost always occurs in patients who have had vagotomy or gastric surgery. It is . . . the most common bezoar.
3) Trichobezoars are bizarre bezoars made up of hair, excessively ingested by a certain segment of our society deemed as "psychiatrically disturbed". Even more bizarre bezoars can form secondary to excessive Gummi Bear ingestion (I kid you not- do a Medline search), concretions formed from laxatives, many paints, glues and other man-made materials."

2. From Vietnamese Pharmacist NGUYEN XUAN THU
Gall-stones are considered a valuable medicine and fetch high prices. The gall-stones of oxen, known as Bezoar orientalis on the international market, is the major active element of a well-known remedy for fever and convulsions, primarily for children. The gall-stones of macaques (Macaca mulatta and Macaca rhesus) has febrifugal, anti-spasmodic, purifying, anti-oedematic, cough-relieving and anti-asthmatic properties.

3. The following is a heart disease pill in traditional Chinese medicine from HUANXIN DAN (Coronary Heart Disease Pill)
[PRINCIPAL INGREDIENTS]
Ginseng (Radix Ginseng)
Pearl (Margarita)
Musk (Moschus)
Cow-bezoar (Calculus Bovis)
Toad venom (Venenum Bufonis)
[ACTIONS]
Promoting coronary circulation to remove obstruction in the heart-vessels.
[INDICATIONS]
Coronary heart disesse, angina pectoris, myocardiac infarction.
[ADMINISTRATION AND DOSAGE]
To be taken orally with warm boiled water after meals, 2 pills each time, 2-3 times a day. For acute cases, 3-4 pills each time, chew and then suck it.
[CAUTION]
Contraindicated for patients with fever or attack of asthma or bleeding or in pregnancy.
[PACKING]
Pills, 0.25g every 10 pills, 30 pills per bottle