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mercury poisoning
acute or chronic disease caused by exposure to mercury or its salts; an important aspect is its toxic effect on the brain, causing impaired judgment, memory loss, sleeplessness,
and nervousness. The acute form, due to ingestion, is marked in the beginning by severe abdominal pain, metallic taste in the mouth, vomiting, and decreased
or blocked ability to urinate; later, the patient develops bloody diarrhea with corrosion and ulceration of the entire digestive tract. Chronic mercury poisoning may be due to absorption through the skin or mucous membranes, inhalation of vaporized mercury, or ingestion of mercury salts. This causes stomatitis, a metallic taste in the mouth, a blue line along the border of the gums, sore and swollen gums that bleed easily, loosening
of the teeth, excessive salivation, tremors and incoordination, and psychiatric symptoms such as abnormal excitability, anxiety, and social withdrawal. A common
cause of chronic mercury poisoning is the eating of fish caught in water contaminated with mercury.
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