How Snake Venom Kills… and Saves Lives

 




How Snake Venom Kills… and Saves Lives

Snake venom can be dangerous for your circulatory system, nervous system or muscular system. But it can also be very useful in medicine.

Are you afraid of snakes? Of the 3 000 species of snakes, only around 450 are poisonous and potentially dangerous to humans. These kill around 100 000 people a year - mostly in Asia, Africa and Latin America. But their venom has also been used in  medical discoveries that can save human lives. 

How does venom work? 

Snake venom is produced in the back of the snake's head in the salivary glands. Salivary glands are the parts of the head where saliva is made. To deliver venom, snakes have hollow fangs that act like hypodermic needles. When a snake bites, muscles in its head squeeze the venom glands. This pushes the liquid through its fangs muscles in its head squeeze the venom glands. This pushes the liquid through its fangs and into the flesh of its prey.

What is in snake venom? It varies from one species to the next. Sometimes, snakes of the same species that live in different locations can have slightly different venom compositions.

Once the toxins are injected, they can work in several ways depending on the type of snake. Some toxins target the nervous system. These are called neurotoxins. Neurotoxins prevent neurons in the brain from transmitting signals. This causes paralysis. Other toxins harm the circulatory system. These are called haemotoxins. Haemotoxins can cause red blood cells to burst, cause blood to clot, or severely lower blood pressure. Others toxins harm the muscular system. These are called myotoxins. Myotoxins cause tissue death in muscles and prevent muscle contraction. Another word for tissue death is necrosis.

Snake bite poisonings are called envenomings. 

How do you treat snake bites in humans

Every year there are about 5.4 million snake bites. This leads to between 1.8 to 2.7 million envenomings. There are between 81 410 and 137 880 deaths. There are even more amputations and other permanent disabilities as a result. People die from snake bites most often in Asia and Africa. These places have lots of venomous snake species.  They also have lots of agricultural workers who come into contact with snakes. And often, the closest hospital might be far away. 

Medical researchers have developed antivenoms. Antivenoms contain antibodies that attack the dangerous proteins in venom. To develop an antivenom, a host animal is injected with larger and larger amounts of venom. Usually, this animal is a horse. Eventually, the horse’s immune system causes blood plasma cells to produce antibodies. The antibodies are then extracted from the host animal’s body, processed, and purified so they can be given to snakebite victims.

Different kinds of antivenom are usually specific to a single snake species or a group of related species. They can also be very expensive. For example, in the United States, patients can be charged thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars for a single vial! Most snake bites need to be treated with multiple vials.

Is snake venom ever helpful? 

Although the toxins in snake venom can hurt humans, they can also be used as medicine. For example, some snake venom affects blood pressure and blood clotting. Scientists can use this snake venom to develop new drugs to treat illnesses. In fact, the proteins in snake venom has been used to treat many conditions. Some examples are cancer, pain, high blood pressure, heart attacks, strokes, Alzheimer's disease, and Parkinson’s disease. The venom of other animals, such as spiders and scorpions, has also been used to develop important drug treatments.

How do scientists develop drugs from snake venom?

Developing new drugs from snake venom takes a lot of time, effort and money. First, the different ingredients inside snake venom are separated. This allows scientists to test and identify those with useful medical applications. For example, some ingredients might have the ability to block pain. Next, scientists try to develop a synthetic (not natural) version of the compound. They then test the compound in small doses on animals. Finally, scientists create a version of the drug for humans. They test it and make sure it’s safe. Once they are sure, they put it on the market.

Snake venom is a very powerful tool for snakes to subdue their prey, but also for doctors to treat illnesses and snake bites. The development of new antivenoms will hopefully decrease the number of people who die from snake bites. And the discovery of next-generation drugs to combat heart attacks, strokes, and even cancer may rely on hidden secrets contained in snake venom.

Credit : https://letstalkscience.ca/educational-resources/stem-in-context/how-snake-venom-kills-and-saves-lives

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Brutality of Syria war casts doubt on peace talks

Image
  Brutality of Syria war casts doubt on peace talks War crimes experts say they have huge cache of photos documenting mass killing by Assad; Syrian FM arrives in Switzerland, says Assad's future a 'red line' In this June 12, 2011 photo during a government-organized tour for media, Syrian army soldiers show reporters dead bodies after they claimed that they are policemen who were killed by gunmen, near the city's Military Police building, in the town of Jisr al-Shughour, north of Damascus, Syria. (photo credit: AP/Bassem Tellawi) Syria’s conflict was sparked by an act of brutality — the detention and torture of schoolchildren who spray-painted anti-government graffiti in a southern city. In the three years since, the conflict has evolved into one of the most savage civil wars in decades. The atrocities have been relentless. Protesters gunned down in the streets. An opposition singer whose vocal cords were carved out. Beheadings and mass sectarian killings. Barrels f...
Read more

A horrific video of two women being paraded naked on a road by a group of men in Manipur

Image
 A horrific video of two women being paraded naked on a road by a group of men in Manipur has been shared widely on social media, drawing massive condemnation and calls for action. The two women were gang-raped in a field, a tribal organisation has alleged. The incident happened on May 4 in Kangpokpi district, some 35 km from state capital Imphal, according a statement by the Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum (ITLF). A day before this on-camera horror, clashes broke out between the valley-majority Meitei and the hill-majority Kuki tribe over the Meiteis' demand for Scheduled Tribes (ST) status. When media contacted the women, she told them that "the mob assaulted us, asking them “to strip off our clothes”. “When we resisted, they told me: ‘if you don’t take off your clothes, we will kill you". "The horrifying ordeal suffered by these innocent women is amplified by the perpetrators' decision to share the video, which shows the identity of the victims, on s...
Read more

A man born without a penis just got a new 'bionic' one that will let him have sex for the first time ever.

Image
  A man born without a penis just got a new 'bionic' one that will let him have sex for the first time ever . Because of a rare birth defect, Andrew Wardle was born with his bladder outside his body — and without a penis. Last Friday, Wardle underwent the last in a series of surgeries that gave him a totally new penis, the Daily Mail reported. The new organ is made from some of his own tissue and an implant that will help him have erections.  After recovering, he will be able to have sex for the first time in his life.  INSIDER spoke to Wardle (and a doctor who's researched penile reconstruction) to learn more about the surgery.  Warning: this article contains language describing a suicide attempt and a graphic post-surgery photo.  Andrew Wardle is popularly known as the man born without a penis.  Because of a rare birth defect, Wardle was born with his bladder outside his body and with no penis. And for the past f...
Read more

James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix

Image
 James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942 – September 18, 1970) with his mother, Lucille, in 1943. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most influential electric guitarists in the history of popular music, and one of the most celebrated musicians of the 20th century. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame describes him as "arguably the greatest instrumentalist in the history of rock music". Born in Seattle, Washington, Hendrix began playing guitar at the age of 15. In 1961, he enlisted in the US Army, but was discharged the following year. Soon afterward, he moved to Clarksville then Nashville, Tennessee, and began playing gigs on the chitlin' circuit, earning a place in the Isley Brothers' backing band and later with Little Richard, with whom he continued to work through mid-1965. He then played with Curtis Knight and the Squires before moving to England in late 1966 after bas...
Read more

Terrible! "Wooden Horse Or Spanish Donkey" Method Of Punishment

Image
  Terrible! "Wooden Horse Or Spanish Donkey" Method Of Punishment  The wooden horse, or Spanish donkey, was an extremely painful and gruesome medieval torture device.  It was first used by the Holy Inquisition in France and then in Spain and Germany, and then migrated to the Americas, gaining prominence during the colonial period.  The main design was the same wherever it was used.  It was a triangular wooden box with a very sharp top end (ie where the horse's spine would be).  The apparatus was constructed of wood, with planks nailed together to form a long, tapered ridge, which would serve as the horse's back.  These were supported by four legs attached to a bracket, about 6 or 7 feet (1.8 to 2.1 metres) high, with wheels fitted to the bottom of the legs so that the entire device could roll across the ground.  A head and tail would be attached to make the torture device look like an almost “fun” huge wooden horse.  The defendant would be m...
Read more

Doctors Remove Huge Cucumber From Lady's Body. Nigerians React (Graphic Pics)

Image
  Doctors Remove Huge Cucumber From Lady's Body. Nigerians React (Graphic Pics) A video showing the moment Doctors removed a huge cucumber from a Lady's body has shocked  Nigerians  and got them talking. Many Nigerians have reacted to the video which has now amassed over 4.4 million views. Many are wondering how such huge cucumber was able to enter inside the person's body. After removing the huge cucumber, the Doctor measured the size, length. But many are already assuming how it got in there. From the reactions as seen in the screenshots below, you can deduce what they think. Meanwhile, an Online Medical Doctor, Dr Olufunmilayo after seeing the video, attempted a possible explanation to this..... Watch the video and see reactions from Nigerians.... Watch the video below...... LOCAL UNDILUTED DAILY NEWS BRINGS YOU CURRENT INFORMATION IN FORM OF ENTERTAINMENT NEWS AND LOCAL GIST. ARE YOU BORE? FEELING LONELY? DON'T FORGET TO CHECK US EVERY 24 HOURS, MORE GIST...
Read more

The execution of women by the Nazis during World War II

Image
The execution of women by the Nazis during World War II This is a tribute to the amazing courage of so many young women during World War II who were put to death for plotting and fighting against the Nazis, as resistance fighters, partisans and activists in towns and concentration camps. It is estimated that more than 4,000 women of various ages were hanged by Nazi forces between 1939 and 1945. Many more were shot or guillotined and many were tortured before minimal or non-existent trials.  They could be sentenced to death by People's Courts and executed within prisons, by the commandants of concentration camps or by military commanders in the field and summarily executed, usually in public. Some of these "field" executions were documented and photographed.  A lot of the photographs were private snaps taken by individual soldiers and discovered after they had been captured or killed. Hanging was the preferred method for the execution for partisans as it produced more...
Read more

Davy Crockett's older sister, Effie Crockett was invited to help some mothers in the Muskogee Tribe.

Image
 Just a twist- Davy Crockett's older sister, Effie Crockett was invited to help some mothers in the Muskogee Tribe.  Once she arrived in camp, Effie laughed at what she saw. The Muskogee Tribe had a custom of cradling their pappooses among the swaying branches of birch trees. This protected their babies from ground insects, the sun, and wild animals.  After first finding it funny, she soon learned all the great reasons for this practice and marveled at the beauty of it.  Effie watched the swaying and soothing motion of the topmost branches of the trees. She loved how each baby enjoyed nature, how they listened to the songbirds, observed every ladybug, and smiled at the colors of a butterfly, every little breeze was felt and enjoyed by these young ones; each babe seemed perfectly content.  One of the Tribal mothers began to sing a song to the children in her native tongue. As the Muskogee mother sang, Miss Effie observed a small tear running down the mother’s che...
Read more

The Nazi Occupation in Poland

Image
  The Nazi Occupation in Poland This picture has been taken by a German soldier... a "souvenir". W hen the German army invaded Poland in September 1939, the Nazis were determinated to transform Poland into a huge reserve of slave labor ready to be used by the German war industry. In order to reach this goal, the Nazis adopted a policy immediately: To exterminate the Polish elite (professors, lawyers, scientists, etc...). To exterminate any potential opponent. To close all places of education (school, college, universities) excepting professional schools. To forbid any cultural or political activities under death sentence. To create an exclusively German Zone by confiscating all private property and or simply killing the original Polish population. D uring the winter of 1939, the Polish elite and anybody who had a role in the cultural or scientific life in Poland is exterminated: "the slaves don't need culture". At the same time, the entire population of...
Read more

The capture of brave Russian officer Rosinski

Image
The capture of brave Russian officer Rosinski This is a shocking image and I apologize in advance for sharing it, but here’s one that truly got to me… in Belarus, 1918, after WWI had already ended, the brave Russian officer Rosinski was captured by the Bolsheviks. The Bolsheviks tortured the captain, likely to get information out of the man, which he bravely refused to give. After that, they simply continued with the torture out of some sick sense of innate cruelty. He was ‘the enemy’ and he was at their mercy, so they brutally murdered their captive. The brave captain was emasculated. And anally impaled on a tree branch. All this while still alive. Alfred Savoir, the man who published the picture and was an eye witness to the death of the brave military officer, described "M. B.", who ordered this atrocity, thus: I knew him not long ago; he was a charming teenager with an ironic wit and joker. He was rubbed with French culture, he admired the novels of Barres and h...
Read more