Sciencemadness Discussion Board

New use for nitro: Snakebites...

albqbrian - 27-6-2011 at 05:58

It seems some Aussie docs have made a cream that slows down the spread of snake venom. It's description:

"The nitric oxide source in the ointment is glyceryl trinitrate, the same compound used to treat angina. When applied to the body, the ointment releases microscopic amounts of nitric oxide gas, which sink through the skin. There, the gas inhibits pumping of the lymphatic vessels — the primary roadway for molecules too big to squeeze through blood vessel walls and hitch a ride through the bloodstream."


http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/331870/title/Snak...


The sign of a great chemical. A multitude of uses!

Bot0nist - 27-6-2011 at 06:02

Huh, I would have assumed that a vasodilator would speed the flow a venom in the blood...

The WiZard is In - 28-6-2011 at 06:33

Quote: Originally posted by albqbrian  
It seems some Aussie docs have made a cream that slows down the spread of snake venom.



http://tinyurl.com/3rw2vs6

Nitric oxide (NO), a molecule involved in regulation of blood
pressure and the control of brain activity, has been shown to lower
blood pressure in patients who suffer acute strokes.

It has long been known that many snake venoms contain large
molecules that transit the human body's lymphatic system before
entering the bloodstream.

Separately, scientists have also established that nitric oxide slows
down a pumping mechanism within the lymphatic system, a part of
the body's immune system that carries a clear fluid -- called
lymph -- toward the heart.


djh
----
THE LANCET 1997 349:11-14

A randomised, prospective, double-blind, placebo -controlled trial of glyceryl
trinitrate ointment in treatment of anal fissure

Jonathan N Lund, John H Scholefield

Summary
Background Anal fissure is most commonly treated surgically by internal anal
sphincterotomy. However, there is some concern over the effects of this
procedure on continence. Nitric oxide donors such as glyceryl trinitrate (GTN)
have been shown to cause a reversible chemical sphincterotomy capable of
healing fissures in a small series of cases. This study reports a prospective,
randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to test the hypothesis that
topical GTN is the best first-line treatment for chronic anal fissure.

Methods 80 consecutive patients were randomised to receive treatments with
topical 0.2% GTN ointment or placebo. Maximum anal resting pressure (MARP)
was measured with a constantly perfused side-hole catheter before and after the
first application of trial ointment. Anodermal blood flow was measured during
manometry by laser Doppler flowmetry. After initial treatments, patients were
given a supply of ointment (either GTN or placebo) to be applied to the lower
anal canal twice daily. Patients were reviewed 2-weekly. At the initial and follow
up visits patients were asked to record pain experienced on defaecation on a
linear analogue pain score. Endpoints were healing of the fissure or condition
after 8 weeks of treatment.

Findings After 8 weeks, healing was observed in 26/38 (68%) patients treated
with GTN and in 3/39 (8%) patients treated with placebo (p<0.0001, X2 test).
Linear analogue pain score fell significantly in both groups after 2 weeks of
treatment. This fall was maintained in those treated with GTN but pain scores
returned to pre-treatment values by 4 weeks on treatment with placebo. MARP
fell significantly from a mean of 115.9 (SID 31-6) to 75.9 (30-1) cm H20
(p<0-001, Student's paired t-test) in patients treated with GTN but no change
was seen in MARP after placebo. Anodermal blood flow measured by laser
Doppler flowmetry significantly increased after application of GTN ointment but
was unaffected by placebo.

Interpretation Topical GTN provides rapid, sustained relief of pain in patients with
anal fissure. Over two-thirds of patients treated in this way avoided surgery
which would otherwise have been required for healing. Long-term follow up is
needed to assess the risk of recurrent fissure in patients with GTN.


People interested in this would also be interested in —

Emillio de los Ríos Magriñá
atlas of Therapeutic Proctology
WB Saunders 1984

One would be surprised at what
can go-wrong with a simple device!


The WiZard is In - 1-7-2011 at 17:29

Quote: Originally posted by albqbrian  
It seems some Aussie docs have made a cream that slows down the spread of snake venom. It's description:



Someone was kind enough to DL the paper to the Venom
Mailing List.


Attachment: OZ Snakebite Paper. 2011.pdf (294kB)
This file has been downloaded 695 times


djh
----
An 81 year old woman while brushing her teeth suddenly experienced
"lightheadedness, a graying of vision, and then loss of consciousness."
She regained consciousness within three to five minutes and called to
her husband for assistance. When she was helped to her feet, she noted
lightheadedness and a new throbbing headache; both of which abated
within 20 to 30 minutes.

The patient's husband said that he had found his tube of transdermal
nitroglycerin ointment open on the bathroom sink where he discovered
his wife collapsed on the bathroom floor. On closer questioning, it became
apparent that the patient had mistaken her husbands tube of nitrate
ointment for toothpaste and had brushed with it.

New England Journal of Medicine 16x86


----
INDIANAPOLIS, April 18, [1989] (AP) - A pipe bomb in a toothpaste container at, a
discount store exploded in a young girl's hand Monday night, blowing off four of her
fingers.

The police said today that they were looking for two men who left the store moments
after the explosion. Unlike other customers, the men did not seem concerned about the
blast, the police said.

The girl, 5-year-old Erin Bower, had apparently taken the pump-type container of
toothpaste from a shelf when it exploded, investigators said.

The explosion blew off four fingers and half of Erin's left palm and injured an eye and
her abdomen, the officials said. A Methodist Hospital spokesman, David Richards '
said Erin's doctor is “cautiously optimistic" that she will retain partial vision in the
damaged eye.

No one else in the store was seriously hurt. Erin's Mother, Maurine Bower, 31, suffered
a minor shrapnel injuries to one leg. She was treated at a hospital and released.

Charles A. Petersen of the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, said the
bomb was apparently electrically fired. "It was a little more sophisticated than the
average pipe bomb,” He said.

It took some knowledge to construct it."

Scott Minier, a Sheriff's Department spokesman, said the bomb had a pres-
sure-sensitive release

The police said they have no suspects and no motive in the bombing but were
searching for two men seen leaving the store when the explosion occurred.
Investigators released composite sketches of the men based on descriptions from store
employees.

The explosion occurred about an hour before the store was to close. There was no
warning, said Sheriff Joesph G. McAtee.

The police brought in dogs to sniff out any more explosives but none were found.

The severed portion of Erin's hand was packed in ice and taken to the hospital but
officials there said it could not be reattached.


-------
Teen-ager Who Killed Himself Is Tied to Blast That Hurt a Child in Indianapolis

!INDIANAPOLIS, April 25 [1990](AP)

The authorities have determined that a small bomb that maimed a 5-year-old girl at a K
Mart store here a year ago was built by a teen-ager who, apparently despondent over
his act, committed suicide two days later.

At a news conference here on Tuesday, the chief local agent for the Federal Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms said the bomb had been traced to David L. Swinford, a
19-year-old from Noblesville, an Indianapolis suburb.

It was first time that the authorities have publicly said that Mr. Swinford was even a
suspect in the blast. The Federal agent, Charles Petersen, said investigators had
identified the youth as a possible suspect days after the bombing but had only recently
developed conclusive evidence.

That evidence, Mr. Petersen said came from tests on a screwdriver and a knife found in
Mr. Swinford’s car after he had killed himself. The agent said the tests determined that
the tool had been used in making the bomb which was concealed in a pump-type
toothpaste dispenser.

The bomb blew off the left hand of the girl, Erin Bower as she lifted the dispenser from
a shelf. Mr. Peterser said the authorities knew of no motive for the bombing. He also
said that there was no evidence Mr. Swinford had actually placed the bomb on the shelf
and that he might have had an accomplice.

Mr. Swinford shot himself in the head as he sat in his car on a rural road, on April 19,
[1989] two days after the bombing and only hours after he discussed the blast with his
family. [COWARD]

Mr. Swinford's stepfather, David W. Whitesell said his family, had discussed the
bombing while watching a television report about it.

"David replied, 'What business did a little girl have to do in the trash bag department?”
Mr. Whitesell said. "If he really did do this, I think it was a real blow to him to find out
that a good little girl was the victim.”

Erin, who is now 6, wears an artificial limb and is scheduled to have a cornea transplant
in her left eye, which was damaged in the explosion.

Her mother, Maureen Bower, expressed regret about Mr. Swinford's death. "I m sorry
the boy felt he had to take his life over it " she told a reporter from a television station,
WTHR-TV. "Somehow I think that as well as Erin has done, we could have found
forgiveness for him."

hissingnoise - 2-7-2011 at 07:49

That's the saddest story I've seen on this board but the use of the word 'coward' in bold text seems nauseatingly self-righteous . . .

The WiZard is In - 2-7-2011 at 10:51

Quote: Originally posted by hissingnoise  
That's the saddest story I've seen on this board but the use of the word 'coward' in bold text seems nauseatingly self-righteous . . .


Well... I find your reply poorly thought out, however, I am
willing to be generous. I would declare him the winner!
His cowardly act caused his family/friends more grief then
his infernal device caused the little girl, her family and friends.
N'estce pas?!?


djh
----
The Principle of Caution.
Takeo Shimizu
Fireworks: From a Physical Standpoint.

(8)--Pay attention to things in the shadows.


[edited -djh-]

Shrapnel from reinforced box hits 17-year-old boy in Shawano
County By Jessica McCuan of the Journal Sentinel staff July 15, 1998

A 17-year-old boy was killed by a piece of shrapnel when he and his friends blew
up a mailbox that had been "beefed up" with steel and concrete to protect
against vandalism, authorities said Tuesday.

Shawano County sheriff's Lt. John Gutho said Eric Pluger's carotid artery was
severed by a piece of the mailbox's door. Pluger was from Shiocton, in
Outagamie County.

According to Gutho, Pluger and five of his friends had piled into a pickup truck
and were driving along Shawano County Highway I in the Town of Navarino late
Monday when they decided to use a large firecracker marketed as a "Quarter
Stick of Dynamite" to blow up Patrick and Linda Spaay's mailbox.

The explosive, Gutho said, can be purchased at any fireworks stand. [Forsooth!]

Gutho said Pluger and a male friend, who was driving, got out of the truck,
lighted the explosive, placed it in the Spaays' mailbox and closed the door. He
said Pluger hopped into the back of the truck, where three other friends were
sitting. The driver got back into the truck's cab, expecting to speed away
before the box exploded.

"The truck must have stalled just a few feet from the mailbox," Gutho said.

When the mailbox exploded, a piece of metal from its door struck Pluger in the
neck, and he began bleeding heavily. The friends drove to a nearby farm, where
they called 911.

"These were just some kids out having some fun," he said. "They apparently had
a little too much time on their hands and wanted something to do for excitement."

Linda Spaay said the family had their mailbox smashed and stolen repeatedly in
the last few years. About a year ago, her husband, Patrick, built a steel casing
with concrete reinforcements to go around their new mailbox, she said.

"He built it that way so it wouldn't get stolen, and if anyone hit it with a bat
they'd get a little jolt," Spaay said.

The only part of the new mailbox not encased in steel and concrete, Spaay said,
was the door -- the part that flew off and struck Pluger.

Spaay said their neighbors also have had their mailboxes vandalized but theirs
was particularly tempting because their house is nearly a quarter-mile from the
road.

"This is a pretty remote area," she said. "I'd say it happens about three times
a year, and we were just sick of buying nice mailboxes. This new one was kind of
ugly, but it kept people from bothering it for almost a year."

Eric had two sisters, Anna, 19; and Sarah, 13.

Pluger's parents, Ken and Kathy Pluger, said their family is crushed by their
son's death. They said their son had never been in any serious trouble -- "just
typical boy stuff," Ken Pluger said.


-----------------------
07-04-86 10:49 [edited]

SPANAWAY, Wash. (UPI) - A teenager severely wounded by
a Spanaway resident angered because the boy and two friends
allegedly blew up his mailbox with firecrackers remained in
serious condition Friday with a bullet in his brain.

The condition of Edward A. Zenker, 17, was unchanged since
surgeons performed brain surgery Thursday but were unable to
retrieve the .44-caliber bullet. They couldn't remove the
bullet because it was too deep

A 36-year-old Spanaway man arrested on suspicion of firing at
a pickup truck containing Zenker and two friend in
the Pierce County jail awaiting arraignment on three counts of
first-degree
assault.

Police recovered a handgun believed to have been used to
shoot Zenker in the man’s home.

The Pierce County sheriff’s office said Zenker, a recent
graduate of Bethel High School, and two companions, aged 17 and
18, were lighting king-sized firecrackers purchased at an Indian
reservation fireworks stand and tossing them from their, pickup
truck into rural mailboxes early Thursday.

A spokesman for sheriff's office said the suspect began
chasing the youths in his car after they blew up his homemade
wooden mailbox about 12:30 a.m.

The man chased the youth about 25 blocks.

The teenagers pulled their car over to the side of the road,
thinking they would be safe in a confrontation with the man. But the
suspect fired three rounds at their pickup and hit Zenker before
they could get out of the truck.

The other two youths received minor cuts from flying glass, a
sheriff's spokesman said.

The shooting occurred near the Zenker home, and Zenker's
father, hearing shots, rushed to the scene and found his wounded
son.


hissingnoise - 3-7-2011 at 02:57

Quote:
Her mother, Maureen Bower, expressed regret about Mr.
Swinford's death. "I m sorry the boy felt he had to take his life over it " she told a reporter from a television station, WTHR-TV. "Somehow I think that as well as Erin has done, we could have found forgiveness for him."

Ms. Bower's sentiments are so stark in contrast to the hateful 'eye for an eye' mentality that seems so prevalent nowadays . . .
It's good to know that people like her exist.
And the boy apparently decided he should pay the ultimate price for the recklessness that caused the young girl such harm!