A SHOCK CURE FOR SNAKEBITE

Part 1

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The first part of the article tells several stories of cases where
high voltage DC was used to treat snakebites. In the first case,
Dr. Daryl Neans, a veterinarian of Pflugerville, Texas, tells the
story of a rancher who brought in a dog that was bitten on the face
by a rattlesnake 30 minutes earlier.

The dog's face had started swelling and because Dr. Neans had
previously read an OUTDOOR LIFE article about the treatment, he
connected a wire to one of the spark plug wires of his truck then
grounded another one to the frame and used the two wires to shock
the "dog's face half a dozen times around the bites."

The treatment seemed to relieve the dog's pain, but "for insurance,
Dr. Neans had followed the shock treatment with the usual cortisone,
antibiotics, and tetanus antitoxin, but he's convinced that the
shock had already effected the cure."

The article explains why Dr. Neans believes in the cure:

"Body tissue is negatively charged, snake venom is slightly
positive, and unlike charges attract. If ionization of the
venom molecules is altered by electrical shock, he reasoned,
perhaps they can't attach themselves to animal tissue and
destroy it."

Dr. Markus Kryger had read about the treatment in a medical journal
when he opted to use it on courthouse employee in southwestern
Missouri who was bitten by a copperhead just outside the courthouse.

He used jumper cables attached to the spark coil of his car to treat
the wound after giving the woman a tetanus shot and disinfecting the
bite. "Within the hour, the puzzled patient was back at work."

Dr. Kryger became convinced that electrical shock could deactivate
snake venom because of the chemistry of the poison. Besides
proteins and enzymes, venom contains copper and other trace metals
whose electrical properties could be easily upset by high-voltage
shock, thereby possibly uncoupling what makes the venom work.

Dr. Ronald Guderian is a missionary doctor from Seattle who is given
credit for being the first to use high voltage DC to treat
snakebite. He has "successfully treated more than 60 cases in the
Esmeraldas Province of Ecuador."

Based on Dr. Guderian's experience it seems that if the treatment is
received within 15 to 20 minutes after the bite has been inflicted
then the pain stops almost immediately and no swelling will occur.

If swelling has already started, then it stops and the pain soon
subsides. Dr. Guderian typically uses a Nova Technologies stun gun
with one of the electrodes modified so that the current can be
passed directly through the limb by placing an electrode on each
side.

"All of the successful treatments have been performed
with 20,000 to 25,000 volts or more." It has to be DC voltage, too.

The article expresses a concern that someone with a pacemaker might
be killed if they were shocked with the voltage from and ignition
system. The frequency and duration of the pulses of an ignition
system, it is feared, might scramble a pacemaker. "The only
medically tested shocking device that is safe for almost all people,
including those with heart pacemakers, is the Stun Gun, made by Nova
Technologies (2207 Braker Lane, Austin, TX 78758, 512-832-5591)."

"NO ONE HAS EVER USED ELECTRIC SHOCK TO TREAT SNAKEBITE INFLICTED BY
SNAKES WHOSE VENOM ATTACKS THE NERVOUS SYSTEM." (ex. cobra) "The
only venomous snake of this kind in the United States is the coral
snake."

The article warns that the high voltage DC shock would not be
effective against the neurotoxins in the venom of snakes such as the
cobra and coral snakes.

Dr. Guderian's success has been with using the Stun Gun made by Nova
Technologies. The FDA won't let Nova advertise the stun gun as a
treatment against snakebite until further testing has been achieved.

There has been some trouble with reproducing the effect of the
treatment in the laboratory. It has been proposed that the reason
that the treatment has not worked in the laboratory is because those
who were doing the testing were using one of the many imitation stun
guns imported to the US from Taiwan or South Korea.

Another factor in why the treatment does not work in the laboratory
is that, in the laboratory, it is tested on small animals. In the
words of Dr. Guderian, "Think about it. Snake venom evolved for the
purpose of quickly killing prey. Humans are not snake prey: we
just get in the way some times. There may be biological differences
causing small animals to be more susceptible than humans to venom.

Or it may just be a matter of our much larger size. ....When a
small animal is snakebitten, all of it's biological systems shut
down so fast that nothing can be done to stop it. When a human is
bitten, he has a local reaction, followed by pain, swelling, and
possible death perhaps 24 hours later."

The Japanese have reported to Dr. Guderian "that his shock treatment
works on people bitten by their venomous snakes." He has also
received letters telling of success stories in Peru, Columbia,
Argentina, New Guinea and Africa.

As an explanation for why the treatment works, the article cites a
Texas chemist who suspects that electro-phoresis is taking place.

In electro-phoresis a high DC voltage is applied to a substance to
dissociate the compounds in that substance.

"Snake venom is a complex combination of proteins, enzymes
(which are proteins with biological activity) and metal
ions....The positively charged proteins travel toward the
negative terminal, and the negatively charged proteins
migrate toward the positive connection....The chemist
suggested that high-voltage shock would cause enough
separation to render the venom inactive."

A SHOCKING CURE FOR SNAKEBITE

PART 2

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This second part of the article opens by describing the experience
of Jim Scroggins, vice-president of Nova Technologies, when he took
a trip to Ecuador for the purpose of verifying the incredible claims
being made by Dr. Ronald Guderian in regards to the ability of the
Nova Stun Gun to treat snakebite.

On a hike through the jungle to visit an indian village, Jim was
bitten on the arm by a conga ant. The conga ant's "venom can cause
a limb to swell so badly that it can't be used for days."

Jim claimed the bite felt like "five wasp stings in the same spot."
He shocked the wound with a stun gun and "within 30 to 60 seconds
the pain was gone."

Even though conga ant bites are supposed to swell the whole limb,
Jim had no swelling, only a discolored area the diameter of a
baseball.

Dr. Guderian began the high voltage DC shock treatment, not on
snakebites, but originally on stings and bites from scorpions, ants,
bees, wasps, and other kinds of insects.

In the beginning he used the ignition systems of outboard motors and
chainsaws to treat the stings, but he later was sent a portable,
battery powered "buzzer-and-coil" setup from a friend in Indiana.
Later on the same friend sent him several Stun Guns to try out.

While Jim Scroggins was in Ecuador, a girl was stung on the toe by a
scorpion and given the shock treatment with a stun gun. After a few
minutes the pain was gone and the girl left the emergency room.

After Scroggins got home from his trip to Ecuador, his wife was
working in the yard when she was bitten on the hand by four fire
ants. "Donna starts getting a reaction to just one fire-ant bite in
about five minutes. Then, she goes into anaphylactic shock and
can't breathe."

In the rush to go to the hospital, the Scroggins took time to treat
the hand with "two quick half-second zaps" from a Nova Technologies
Stun Gun.

On the way to the hospital, the pain had stopped, so they turned
around and went home. "There was little or no swelling, perhaps one
third of what she usually gets from a single bite."

Dr. Guderian has found out through various sources that shocks have
been used to treat scorpion stings for years in places like India.
40 years ago, people in Nigeria who were stung by scorpions were
commonly shocked with the ignition system of a motorcycle.

High voltage DC can be used to treat other things as well. While in
the city of Esmeraldas, Dr. Guderian had the opportunity to treat a
child who had been stung on the back by a stingray.

He used a wire connected to an automobile's ignition coil and 20
minutes after the treatment the child was back in the water again
playing as if nothing had happened.

A Dr. Stoddard talked to by OUTDOOR LIFE points out that bacteria,
like venom, is largely protein. So are viruses. In Europe, acne is
being treated with electricity.

I may get my self a stunt gun. 

Hans