A Russian woman ended up in the hospital with brain swelling after a mushroom "gastronomic tour." People are wondering under what conditions mushrooms become poisonous, how to prepare them correctly, what the symptoms of poisoning are, and who is especially at risk.
Mushrooms are dangerous primarily because they're easy to mix up - even an edible variety ends up in the same basket as a poisonous one, and a single death cap in a dish is already a disaster. The toxin doesn't disappear during cooking, frying, or pickling; it accumulates in your body and attacks the liver and nervous system, which leads to brain swelling and seizures. If you're not sure about the details - don't pick them and don't eat them, just buy ones that have been checked and sold in a store instead. People with chronic liver and kidney disease are at especially high risk: the toxin encounters a weakened filter in them.
I once left mushrooms in the freezer too long and didn't throw them out - decided to fry them anyway. Then my stomach hurt for a few days, though it wasn't actual poisoning. Turns out spoiled mushrooms can accumulate toxins even without direct poison, just from decomposition. In that girl's case, the problem was probably not just the species themselves but the storage conditions before cooking - mushrooms go bad fast, especially if they were picked in heat or transported for a long time. Plus some edible varieties in large quantities or with improper preparation put real stress on the liver and kidneys, which can lead to brain swelling if the body's already weakened.
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