Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 2, Number 4, 1 April 1985 — He Mau Ninau Ola [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

He Mau Ninau Ola

Some Heolth Questions by Kekuni Blaisdell , M.D.

Q: E kauka, in your eolumn last month, how eome you didn't mention that Davis, whoever he was, could have been poisoned by 'o'opuhue or ciguatera? A: E kala mai ia'u (pardon), for I did not have enough space last month to relate the details of the alleged poisoning of Isaac

Davis who died in Honolulu in 1810. Aikake, as Davis was known to our kupuna in times of old, was a Welsh seaman whoarrived in Hawai'i at Ka'upulehu, North Kona, in 1790, on the schooner Fair Amehean. Kamehameha, then an ambitious young chief, recognized Aikake's abilities, especially with haole guns, made him an ali'i, gave him lands, and later app>ointed him governor of O'ahu. Aikake's daughter became wahine to a son of Kaumuali'i, ruling chief of Kaua'i. In 1810, Kamehameha sent Aikake to Kaua'i to bring Kaumuali'i to O'ahu for a peaee agreement. Samuel Kamakau later wrote that Naihe and other scheming chiefs planned to poison Kaumuali'i at a rum party at Waikahalulu in lower Nu'uanu. Aikake warned Kaumuali'i, so the plotters, according to historian Kuykendall poisoned Aikake instead. However, Kuykendall does not provide evidence or a reference for his account, and the Christianized native writer, John Papa I'i, considered Aikake's rumored poisoning to be "worthless pagan reasoning." Were 'o'opuhue and ciguatera fish poisoning known to ka po'e Hawai'i kahiko so that such toxic fish could have been used to murder Aikake? 'O'opuhue (fugu, puffer, or balloon) fish poisoning was apparently known to our pre-haole-contact kupuna, according to David Malo and Kepelino. They were also aware that the viscera (internal organs) were more toxic than the 'ono muscular flesh. Since the research of Professor Yokoo in Japan in 1950, fugu poisoning has been attributed to a purified, tasteless, heat resistant ehemieal called tetrodotoxin. This nerve toxin is so potent that numbness and weakness ean begin in 10 minutes, and death from paralysis dcc"uts in about 60 percent of cases, usually within six hours. Thus, you may be pololei (correct); it is conceivable that Aikake died of 'o'opuhue poisoning — that is, if he died of poisoning, and not some other cause. Ciguatera poisoning, whieh affected 15 po'e on Kaua'i

recently, was probably also known in ancient Hawai'i. In 1774, Capt. Cook and his crew, while in the New Hebrides, were reported by ship's surgeon William Anderson to have become acutely ill after eating what appeāred to be red snapper ('ula'ula). We now know that this form of fish poisoning is highly variable. Dr. Joel Sims of the Department of Health says that it only irregularly affects over 500 varieties of ordinarily edible reef fish, such as papio, ulua, kahala, po'ou, and weke, and it is due to several tasteless toxins. In 1980, two ciguatera toxins were found by Dr. R. S. Bagnis in T ahiti to be produced not by fish, but by a particular microscopic limu (alga), whieh passes the toxins up-the food ehain through successively larger ingesting fish, and finally to man. The usual symptoms of ciguatera poisoning are lua'i (vomiting), palahi (diarrhea), mane'o (itching), numbness, and burning pain especially on contact with cold water. Since 1975, there have been 332 cases reported in Hawai'i, but only two deaths. Thus, you may also be pololei with respect to possible ciguatoxicity in the case of Aikake — that is, if he died of poisoning, and not some other cause. Q: What are the main forms of poisoning affecting us Hawaiians today? A: Answers to this ninau depend on how one defines "poisoning" and on severity, and we do not have reliable poison rates by race. Most reported deaths at the Hawai'i Poison Center at Kapi'olani Hospital result from accidental ingestion, especially by kamali'i (children), of antipain drugs like aspirin, sedativesor sleeping pills, cleaning solvents, pesticides and corrosives. Intentional poisonings are often suicide gestures by teenagers with "space-out" drugs, aleohol or eoeaine. Then there are delayed or uncertain toxicities from lowlevel environmental exposure to substances, such as asbestos and heptachlor, whieh will be considered in a future article. Perhaps most importantly, are self-poisonings from puhi paka (cigarette-smoking), whieh promotes cancer, coronary heart disease and lung ailments; inu loa (alcoholism) whieh contributes to liver, heart and pancreas disorders and birth defects; excessive dietary fat, whieh enhances the risk of some types of cancer and atherosclerosis; and too mueh pa'akai (sodium), whieh worsens kokopi'i (high blood pres sure) and heart failure. These most eommon of all poisonings in us po'e Hawai'i ean be eradicated only if we, as selfresponsible individuals, avoid these self-toxins. Aia no iaia kakou.