Ep 97 Snake Venom: Collateral Damage

This Podcast Will Kill You

Exactly Right and iHeartPodcasts

Health & Fitness, Science

4.8 • 17.1K Ratings

🗓️ 31 May 2022

⏱️ 92 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

How do you feel about snakes? Intrigued or terrified? In awe or creeped out? Of course, those aren’t the only options; the sight or thought of a snake can evoke many different emotions, but chances are indifference isn’t one of them. And is it any wonder? Some snakes can produce incredibly potent venoms that can seriously harm or even kill you, a characteristic that likely helped earn them their prominent role in many cultures and religions as a creature or god to be respected, if not feared. In this episode, we take a closer look at the diverse compounds that make up these venoms by exploring how they impact our bodies in the myriad ways they do and the current tools we have to combat their effects. Then we turn to evolution, not of snakes themselves but rather the role snakes may have played in primate evolution (snake detection hypothesis, anyone?) before discussing the historical development of antivenoms. We round out the episode by reviewing the current status of snakebite as a neglected tropical disease and mentioning some very exciting therapies on the horizon. Don’t missssss out on this enlightening envenoming episode today!

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Transcript

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0:00.0	It's hard to imagine losing a loved one, a wife, a husband, a child.
0:04.4	For many, it's their biggest fear.
0:06.4	Amarissa Jones, host of The Vanished.
0:08.9	A podcast that tells the stories of often overlooked and unsolved missing persons cases,
0:13.6	in an effort to uncover the truth.
0:15.8	Follow The Vanished on Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts.
0:22.6	Hi, my name is Gwen, and this is my story.
0:25.6	It was the last day of our 10-day field trip.
0:29.3	We were working and camping at our most remote field site in Western Colorado,
0:34.3	conducting botany surveys for a research project.
0:36.9	My field assistant Chloe and I decided that we would spend the evening swimming and relaxing by the Delora's River.
0:43.7	As the sun set, I started to get ready for bed.
0:47.0	I was tired and ready to snuggle up in my sleeping bag.
0:50.1	I walked over to the truck to refill my water bottle and grab my toothbrush.
0:54.8	As I reached for the driver's side door handle, I heard a noise and looked down just in time to see a rattlesnakes fangs
1:01.9	penetrate the skin on my right ankle.
1:04.0	The snake coiled up and started rattling its tail and I backed away quickly.
1:08.6	Chloe and I decided to leave all of our camping gear and head straight to the hospital in Grand Junction,
1:14.4	which was about a three-hour drive.
1:16.0	We left at about 9.30 at night and the only road home was a two-lane highway over the Uncompagray Plateau.
1:23.0	Because we didn't have cell service, I used our satellite messenger to text my husband with the news and to call ahead to the hospital.
1:30.0	I was in a lot of pain, really the most pain that I can remember.
	...

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