A Pune woman fell terribly sick and died of a cardiac arrest after consuming bottle guard juice.
The 41-year-old fitness enthusiast used to drink bottle gourd juice every day, as per reports. On June 12 morning, the woman went for a 5-km run and consumed the juice at 9.30am before leaving for office. However, she fell sick in the car and had to return home.
"She developed severe vomiting and loose motion within half-an-hour of having a glass of bottle gourd juice in the morning on June 12," The Times of India quoted her family friend as saying.
After a while, she started feeling breathless and pain in the abdomen. Her condition deteriorated in the next few hours and she developed convulsions, following which she was rushed to a hospital at around 1:30 pm.
"By the time she was moved there, she had lost consciousness and had a cardiac arrest," the friend said. She was put on ventilator support for two days during the treatment.
"Her condition had started improving. But on Friday (June 15), she developed bleeding in the brain. The bleeding was promptly taken care of. But she again developed bleeding in the brain and this time, she could not be revived. She succumbed to multiple complications, including vital organ dysfunctions, on June 16," the woman's friend explained.
When is bottle gourd juice fatal?
It is being speculated that the juice she consumed may have been bitter, which resulted in her death.
"It is not the lone case of bottle gourd poisoning in the city. I see around one or two such cases almost every year. Quite a few people take this particular vegetable's juice in Pune. People should not consume the juice if it tastes bitter. The awareness about this is very low among people," Critical care expert Kapil Borawake said, reported the English daily.
Borawake also said that the bitter bottle gourd juice contains a poisonous compound called Cucurbitacin, which causes a toxic reaction in the stomach and is often confused with the effects of that gastrointestinal sepsis. This poisoning has no antidote.
Bitter vegetable juices to beware of
Other vegetable juices which can pose a similar threat to your body if they go bitter are cucumber, squash, eggplant or brinjal, melon, pumpkins and gourds.
