Blowfish Poison Derivative Could Be A Painkiller

Makarand writes "According to this Reuters article, a Vancouver (Canada) based company is testing a painkiller derived from blowfish poison. The drug has passed two phases of clinical tests and during testing it could ease pain in terminally ill cancer patients with a dosage of few micrograms. The drug is a sodium channel blocker and works by stopping nerves from sending pain signals to the brain. The company says that the drug does not have the side effects of morphine and is non-addictive. A single blowfish can provide about 600 doses of this drug."

Comments

Nature

[$exyNerdie]

We have so much to learn from nature !!

For example, the use of leeches in in surgeries where increasing circulation and inhibiting clotting are critical, such as reconstructive surgery after breast cancer.
Leeches have a natural anticoagulant in their saliva which increases blood flow through traumatized tissue, helping to keep it alive during lengthy surgeries. Leeches even come with a natural anesthetic and antibiotic to help break down clots and keep the blood flowing.

Re:Nature

[GreyWolf3000]

That's interesting. This problem also bleeds into nutrition. The USDA-approved American diet is widely criticized by most doctors and nutritionists that study diet and health extensively. IANAV (I am not a vegan, or even a vegetarian), but studies indicate that virtually every patient with adult onset diabetes who has adopted an all-natural vegan diet has been cured of diabetes.

I hate to automatically assume the worst, but it would seem that from a health care standpoint, healthy individuals make much worse customers. There could be more than just arrogance involved when doctors refuse to consider alternative treatment, whether it's illegal drugs or diets that don't follow the USDA norm.

In the case of illegal drugs, perhaps doctors are reluctant to push treatments that the federal government would never legalize. Every politician knows that the infamous "drug war" is a complete failure, but to merely suggest legalization is political suicide.

TTX

[yet another coward]

Tetrodotoxin is commonly used in biomedical research to silence neurons. It blocks sodium channels. I had wondered in the past why it did not exist as a drug for humans.

There are many sodium channel blocking anesthetics available now. The drugs that end in -caine are mostly sodium channel blockers. Benzocaine, novacaine and lidocaine are examples.

From the article, it seems that TTX is being investigated for general systemic use rather than as a local anesthetic. There are only vague mentions of injections. I would appreciate more information about the drug's indications and delivery.

And the impact of psychological pain?

[G4from128k]

Morphine and other opiates are bad because they depress the entire central nervous system -- they deaden everthing. Yet this is also a good quality for treating certain patient cases mentioned by the article. The problem with a blowfish analgesic is that it will alleviate physical pain, but do nothing for the psychological pain of terminal illness. Whereas morphine will make you forget your troubles, blowfish medicine will leave you clearheaded to consider your fate.

Otherwise, blowfish medicine might do wonders for pain associated with surgery and trama. And, its nonaddictive nature might help doctors be less stingy with painkillers. Unfortunately, there remains the issue of whether managed care will cover the costs for mere pain control.

Cool, first zombies, now this

[ralphus]

Tetrodotoxin is pretty neat stuff. I recall years ago reading The Serpent and the Rainbow about Harvard ethnobotanist, Wade Davis' adventures with Haitian voodoo culture and exploring the uses of tetrodotoxin to create zombies. Don't let the cheesy fictional movie fool you, the book is legitimate ethnobotany and well worth a read.

Anyhow, tetrodotoxin fascinated me then, and it does now. Maybe someday I'll be in Japan and actually get to try Fugu and have a first hand experience with a light consumption of tetrodotoxin.