Brazilian Spider Bite May Become the Next Viagra 144
An anonymous reader writes "Scientists believe a spider could lead to a breakthrough in sexual health after finding a single bite can cause a four-hour erection. According to the report, researchers at the Medical College of Georgia believe the venom of the Brazilian wandering spider could lead to a new cure for erectile dysfunction. Dr Kenia Nunes, a physiologist at the college, said it works in a different way to Viagra. 'This is good because we know that some patients don't respond to the conventional therapy. This could be an optional treatment for them,' she said. Her study, published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, involved experiments using hypertensive rats with severe erectile dysfunction."
Four hour erection? (Score:5, Informative)
I was bitten in the toe (Score:5, Informative)
BTW, where does the spider need to bite them?
I was bitten by a P. Nigriventer once in Brazil, I was walking through a lawn wearing flip-flops and it bit me in the toe. I think I was fortunate that it wasn't in the "armed" position, so the bite just glanced me and I didn't get the full poison load. I stepped on the spider to kill it and a biologist neighbor identified it for me.
I had a painful toe for a few hours, but that was all.
Can't say about the sex boost, since I was 16 at the time and a nearly continuous hard on is a fact of life at that age.
The Nigriventer is so deadly because of the large amount of poison it can inject, up to 8 ml. I knew a family who lost a 4 year old soon to a bite. The spider was hidden in the child's shoe and bit him in the foot. A good practice in the country in Brazil is to shake boots and shoes before wearing them.