Snakes to me are one of the biggest fears that people of
this world have. I am personally quite
fond and scared of snakes. I admit one day I would like to own one of the small
pet sized python snakes. However, when I am at the zoo or watching the animal
channel and see these snakes that are over five feet long (I, myself, am only 5’2)
I feel a tad bit uneasy. So I don’t know if I have a true fear of snakes seeing
how I’m fascinated with them, but at the same time being scared of them.
It is funny to think that this creature contributes to
the world of medicine. To be more specific the venom of this creature contributes
to the medical field. How in the world could a snake contribute to the world of
medicine? It is hard to think they can when there are snakes that can kill you
almost instantly with a single bite such as, the infamous black
mamba.
Snake venom in medicine is being studied to treat high
blood pressure, strokes, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and heart disease (“Office”).
What is believed with snake venom is that
the same proteins that can cause death and damage in the prey of the snakes can
be manipulated to be beneficial to the health of a human being (“Office”). There
are two medications that are made from snake venom Eptifibatide (Integrilin)
and Tirofiban (Aggrastat).
These medications are used in stroke and heart disease patients to help
prevent a heart attack. Snake venom causes a human to bleed out; but by
manipulation of this action the venom instead of bleeding out the patient, it prevents
and dissolves blood clots in the patient to prevent future heart attacks. The
most important property of snake venom is the protein in it.
Though I wrote out hospital prescribed medication above,
in other countries such as Bolivia in this video the venom of snakes are put
into homeopathic medicines.
Most companies and researchers get their snake venoms from
places like this so they don’t have to directly deal with the snakes as they
tried to milk the fangs and at the same time do their research. From this video
it is easy to come to the conclusion that even though the use of snake venom in
America is sort of a new concept it is not the same for the lands outside of
the United States that have been using the venom for a while.
"Office of
Science Education - Animals In Research - Stories of Discovery - Making
Medicines from Poisonous Snakes." Office of Science Education - Animals
In Research - Stories of Discovery - Making Medicines from Poisonous Snakes.
N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Apr. 2013.
It is really interesting to think that an animal that can be very harmful to humans, can also save human lives. It would have been nice to hear more about the homeopathic applications of snake venom. I know I have heard about snake venom and synthetic snake venom being used in skin care products. You mentioned that America is relatively late in using venom for medicine. You could further elaborate on why American scientists/ research companies would be hesitant in using snake venom in their medicinal products.
ReplyDeleteGreat read! I thought this piece was very interesting. I am fascinated with the research you had to have done because I would’ve never considered snake venom to be beneficial. Your post had great content, but I would suggest a minor change in the format. A few of your hyperlinks I felt were unnecessary. I rather you just post the picture of the Black Mamba onto the actual post oppose to giving me a link to the picture. It's like adding an unnecessary step just for me to view a picture. Also, I think you should have just posted the video into the post oppose to providing me a link. It's not a big deal. Your readers can just click the link and it will pop up in a different window, BUT i think by you adding the visual aids to your blog, it will kind of pump up your blog. At first glance, readers will be more enticed to read you blog simple because they are attracted by the visuals, not just a page full of words.
ReplyDeleteI agree with both Jazman and Amanda! This *was* a great read, yet it would have been great to read how humans for centuries have been using venom homeopathically. See how different readers can engage with a text in unique ways? I've heard of some rulers in antiquity using venom preemptively; that is, they took small amounts daily often enough that they became immune just in case someone tried to poison them (which was a common occurrence, it seems).
ReplyDeleteAsk me on Monday and I can show you how to embed that video so that you see it on the page instead of the URL (this just adds a layer of interactivity to your blog).
I find this blog to be very interesting thus furthering the belief that we are all interlinked on earth and every thing placed on earth has a purpose
ReplyDelete