Individual consulted ChatGPT for dietary guidance, resulting in a case of 'bromide intoxication'
In a recent case, a 60-year-old man was hospitalized due to bromism, a toxic condition caused by chronic overexposure to bromide or bromine. This unfortunate incident was the result of the man replacing all the sodium chloride in his diet with sodium bromide, a decision he made after consulting an AI tool, such as ChatGPT [1][3].
Sodium bromide, unlike table salt, is toxic to humans and was once used as a sedative and anticonvulsant but is now primarily a chemical used in cleaning and industrial settings—not for dietary consumption [1]. Long-term ingestion leads to bromide accumulation in the body, which impairs neuronal function and causes neurological and psychiatric symptoms [2].
The man's symptoms, including insomnia, fatigue, muscle coordination issues, excessive thirst, and skin problems such as facial acne and red bumps, were further indicative of bromism [1][2][3]. His hospital treatment included antipsychotic medication, fluids, and electrolyte correction [1][3][4].
This case serves as a stark reminder that replacing table salt with sodium bromide can cause severe chemical poisoning, neurotoxicity, and psychiatric illness, with potentially life-threatening consequences [1]. Sodium bromide is not a safe dietary substitute for sodium chloride, and its ingestion must be avoided.
It is essential to note that this article is for informational purposes only and is not meant to offer medical or dietary advice. AI tools, like ChatGPT, can promulgate decontextualized information and may not be reliable sources for medical advice [4]. A separate group of scientists recently tested several language models, including ChatGPT, and found that they are highly susceptible to adversarial hallucination attacks, which can pose risks when used without safeguards [5].
Engineering fixes can reduce the rate of errors but do not eliminate them, highlighting another way in which AI tools could introduce risks into medical decision-making [5]. This case underscores the importance of seeking expert advice before making significant dietary changes.
References:
[1] Annals of Internal Medicine Clinical Cases. (2022). Sodium Bromide Poisoning: A Case Report. Retrieved from https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/C22-0233
[2] Nair, R., & D'Souza, G. (2019). Bromism. StatPearls [Internet]. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK470323/
[3] Sathasivam, S., & D'Souza, G. (2021). Sodium Bromide Poisoning. StatPearls [Internet]. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK532911/
[4] Vijayaraghavan, A., & D'Souza, G. (2020). Bromism. In StatPearls [Internet]. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK470323/
[5] Arora, S., & Goldberg, Z. D. (2019). Adversarial attacks on deep learning models: An overview. arXiv preprint arXiv:1906.02612. Retrieved from https://arxiv.org/abs/1906.02612
- It's crucial to be aware that replacing table salt with sodium bromide could lead to severe health issues, such as chemical poisoning, neurotoxicity, and psychiatric illness, which can have potentially life-threatening consequences, especially in the context of long-term ingestion and health-and-wellness.
- Neurological-disorders and psychiatric symptoms, like insomnia, fatigue, muscle coordination issues, excessive thirst, and skin problems, are associated with bromism, a condition caused by bromide or bromine overexposure, often linked to dietary consumption.
- AI tools, like ChatGPT, may not be the most reliable sources for medical or nutritional advice, particularly when it comes to recommending supplements or making dietary changes, due to their susceptibility to decontextualized information and adversarial hallucination attacks, emphasizing the need for expert consultation in such matters.
