Have you ever thought that there might be a poison so strong that it can interrupt the transmission of pain signals to neurons? The Conus regius, a species of cone snail, is capable of producing this substance. Because of this, scientists are carrying out tests with the snail venom capable of relieving severe pain.
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It is normal to wonder why scientists use the substance of an animal that can be fatal to humans. To know the answer to this question, it is important to understand that the creation of medicines with snail venom is for social and public health reasons.
That's because, in countries like the United States, there is an opioid epidemic. To get an idea, in the last 20 years, more than 500 thousand people lost their lives by overdose with this type of medicine. This is the result of a long aggressive campaign by the pharmaceutical industries in the country, which encouraged the use of opioids in very high doses.
Thus, together with public policies to combat the excessive use of these remedies, the researchers intend to create remedies based on snail venom. Thus, they will be able to further reduce the number of addicts.
Basically, analgesics are medications to inhibit pain. Because of this, they are widely used in medicine, as they fit in any situation, such as a post-operative period or to relieve some discomfort from a blow. However, unfortunately, our body is very tolerant to the substances of this drug, requiring increasingly larger doses. This is why many people develop chemical dependence on medications such as ibuprofen and morphine.
In the case of those developed through snail venom, they would have actions on receptors other than nerve cells. Because of this, they would have direct contact with neurotransmitters, through nicotinics. Soon, pain signals would no longer be transmitted by neurons.
