Title: Ancient poison
题目：古老的毒药
Author作者: Kishan Kapadia
江利冰 译 肖锋 校

Colchicine tablets and injectable solution is frequently used for the treatment of gout and familial Mediterranean fever.  An overdose is extremely serious, with considerable mortality that is often delayed.  It is considered a cellular poison due to its inhibition of cellular mitosis of dividing cells. 
秋水仙碱片或者注射液常常用于治疗痛风和家族性风湿热。使用过量是非常危险的，如果不及时处理常常会导致很高的死亡率。这种药物中毒的机制被认为是细胞中毒，该药物抑制了细胞分裂期的有丝分裂。
After an acute overdose, symptoms typically are delayed for 2-12 hours and include nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and severe bloody diarrhea.
如果是急性药物中毒，症状常常延迟到2-12个小时后出现，包括恶心，呕吐，腹痛以及严重的血性腹泻。
Chronic poisoning presens with a more insidious onset.
慢性中毒则往往起病隐匿。
Late complications include bone marrow suppression, particularly leukopenia and thrombocytopenia (4-5 days) and alopecia (2-3 weeks).
晚期并发症包括骨髓抑制，尤其是白细胞减少，血小板减少（4-5天）以及秃头症（2-3星期）
Treatment includes aggressive supportive care, monitoring and treatment of fluid and electrolyte disturbances.
治疗包括积极的生命支持，监测和处理水电解质紊乱。
The usual cause of death from acute poisoning is due to hemodynamic collapse and cardiac arrhythmias (typically 24-36 hours after ingestion or could be sudden) or from infectious or hemorrhagic complications.
急性中毒引起死亡的原因包括血流力学紊乱，心律失常（典型的是发生在摄取后24-36小时，也可以是立即发作），或者是因为感染或者是出血性并发症。

References
参考文献：
1) Finkelstein Y et al.  Colchicine poisoning: the dark side of an ancient drug. 2010 Clin Tox 48(5):404-414.
2) Olson KR, ed. Poisoning & Drug Overdose. 5th ed. New York: McGraw Hill; 2007.