{"id":618233,"date":"2026-06-03T04:07:23","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T04:07:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/618233\/"},"modified":"2026-06-03T04:07:23","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T04:07:23","slug":"warning-issued-against-frog-poison-shamans-after-leicester-mans-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/618233\/","title":{"rendered":"Warning issued against ‘frog poison shamans’ after Leicester man’s death"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Leicester wellness coach is thought to be the first British person to have died after using Kambo\"Mr<\/p>\n

Mr Trend died on April 11(Image: Facebook)<\/p>\n

Health experts have warned people to steer clear of self-appointed “shamans” peddling a potentially deadly therapy involving a drug derived from the poisonous skin of an Amazonian tree frog.<\/p>\n

The warning comes after a Leicester wellness coach<\/a> became the first British person to die after allegedly taking part in a Kambo “cleansing” ceremony, the Mirror reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Kristian Trend, a 40-year-old cancer survivor, collapsed at a property in Leicester in April after reportedly using the substance.<\/p>\n

Leicestershire Police<\/a> confirmed a 41-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of administering poison and has since been released on bail, with an investigation into the circumstances continuing and toxicology tests still ongoing.<\/p>\n

Kambo is a poison derived from the giant monkey frog and is used as a traditional medicine in purging and cleansing rituals by indigenous tribes in the Amazon region.<\/p>\n

\"Amazonian<\/p>\n

(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

It can be bought legally in the UK and Ireland but is banned in Brazil, Chile and Australia, and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency does not license it as a medicine or oversee those who administer it.<\/p>\n

According to the National Library of Medicine, there is a risk of serious adverse reactions when using Kambo, especially if it enters the bloodstream.<\/p>\n

Symptoms are strong and immediate and may include severe vomiting, dizziness, fainting and swollen lips or face<\/a>, with more serious reactions including tachycardia, blood pressure fluctuations and in rare cases sudden cardiac death.<\/p>\n

The British Pharmacological Society warned that safe prescribing depends on proper clinical oversight and a full understanding of possible risks, side effects and interactions with other medicines.<\/p>\n

It advised people to speak to a licensed healthcare professional before using any medical products including natural or alternative therapies.<\/p>\n

The British Complementary Medicine Association, whose members do not offer Kambo, urged people to use only registered and qualified practitioners for any alternative treatment.<\/p>\n

The BCMA said: “You would not go to a doctor without checking they were registered, properly qualified and insured; the same follows for a complementary therapist.”<\/p>\n

\"Kambo<\/p>\n

(Image: GummyBone via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Mr Trend’s mother Angie has called for an outright ban on the substance following her son’s death.<\/p>\n

She said: “I do hope this is banned and nobody has to go through this devastating pain. We are obviously heartbroken and realise going forward this is not going away anytime soon.<\/p>\n

“I’m not strong enough to fight for it. My husband died six years ago at 62. I’m completely lost now.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Leicester wellness coach is thought to be the first British person to have died after using Kambo…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":618234,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[59,102,151307,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-618233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-gb","tag-health","tag-leicestershire-police","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/618233","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=618233"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/618233\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/618234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=618233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=618233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=618233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}