Pain in abdomen--do not forget lead poisoning.

Lead toxicity has been recognized for thousands of years, and is still around. We encountered 11 patients with lead toxicity in the last two years. All patients had presented with diffuse pain in the abdomen, anemia and mild derangements of liver biochemistry. History of intake of indigenous or herbal medicine for diabetes mellitus or psychosexual disorders was present in eight patients. All of them had elevated blood lead levels. Abdominal pain responded promptly to treatment with chelating agents.