Venomous snakes pose a serious danger to both humans and pets. If snake venom enters the body, it can affect the entire body very quickly, causing shortness of breath, general weakness, dizziness, inflammation of lymph nodes, and decreased blood pressure. Snakebites are especially dangerous for children, the elderly, people with allergies and small animals.

In this article we will try to discuss such important aspects as the origin, purpose and types of snake venom, its chemical composition, mechanism of action and effect on the body, as well as the rules of first aid for snake bites.

Origin and purpose of snake venom

Venom in the snake is produced by its modified salivary glands, which have developed in the process of evolution and turned into venomous glands. Along with them, the snake has modified special teeth that exist to inject venom into the victim’s body.

The purpose of snake venom has several directions – from the defense of this reptile from enemies and its effective hunting of prey to the use of snake venom in medicine and the cosmetic industry. Let’s analyze each of them in more detail.

Prey hunting is the main purpose of snake venom, because it is used to immobilize the victim, which helps the snake to quickly dispose of paralyzed prey. In addition, snake venom contains enzymes that begin to break down food tissue before the snake even swallows it. Consequently, venom is also important for digestion of hard-to-digest food by this animal.

Defense against enemies is another purpose of snake venom. At first, the snake tries to scare away the enemy by making various sounds or showing its coloration. And only then, in case of greater danger, it will try to bite the enemy in order to cause him severe pain or irritation with venom. This is why the attacker should be frightened and retreat back.

Making medical and homeopathic preparations is a relatively new application of snake venom, which was caused by the presence of useful molecules in this substance. The venom is obtained from snakes that are caught in the wild or kept in serpentariums, also called “snake farms”. This substance is harvested mechanically or with an electric current by stimulating the salivary glands of the snake. For several decades now, snake venom has been used to create a blood serum with specific antibodies, which is injected into the human body when snake venom is ingested during a bite. Nowadays, injectable forms with antispasmodic and anticonvulsant effects, solutions for the treatment of hypertension and thrombophlebitis, ointments that help with rheumatism and myositis are also made on the basis of this venom.

Making cosmetic care products – this is a very popular in recent years, the use of snake venom. After all, thanks to the efforts of scientists who discovered special polypeptides in snake venom, the world cosmetic market has appeared skin products with snake venom extract. The action of these products can be compared to cosmetic Botox injections used to eliminate expression lines. It should be noted that the production of cosmetics with natural snake venom extract is quite expensive, so this is reflected in the high price of such products.

Chemical composition and mechanism of action of snake venom

The composition of snake venom includes proteins, enzymes, amino acids, fatty acids and trace elements. Proteins and peptides are the main toxic components of the venom, which are divided into hemorrhagic and neurotoxic. It is on them that the mechanism of action of snake venom depends, for example, hemorrhagic components cause bleeding and damage to the walls of blood vessels, as well as edema and tissue destruction. Neurotoxic constituents cause paralysis, asphyxiation and impaired nervous system function. The enzymes contained in many snake venoms provoke even greater destruction of cell membranes in the prey’s tissues and increase the spread of toxins in its body.

In general, snake venom can cause many different complications, from local swelling to systemic disorders such as hemorrhage, blood cell destruction, shock, and respiratory paralysis.

Types of snake venoms and their effects on humans and animals

Snake venom is known to affect the hematopoietic, nervous and cardiovascular systems and causes headache, dizziness, decreased blood pressure, edema and severe weakness. It is believed that there are only a few species of venomous vipers in Ukraine, so the bites of most snakes do not pose a lethal danger to people, but require emergency medical care. For pets, the consequences of snake bites can be serious due to the small body size of pets, faster spread of venom in the body and difficulty in providing first aid.

Effects of venom on humans. Snake venom, once in the human body, negatively affects its cardiovascular system, namely: lowers blood pressure, disrupts heart function and blood clotting, causes inflammation of lymph nodes. A person may also experience neurological symptoms such as dizziness, weakness and severe headache. There is always painful swelling with hemorrhages at the bite site, and the risk of shortness of breath, nausea and vomiting is increased.

The effect of the poison on pets. Pets, especially small in size, are very sensitive to snake venom. After all, its entry into the body of the animal, as a rule, leads to a rapid spread of toxins throughout the body. In such a case, swelling in the animal’s body can be stronger than in humans, and the damage to vital organs can be more rapid and critical. There are also problems with diagnosis and treatment due to some peculiarities of the animal’s body.

First aid in case of snakebite

First Aid for a person. The first thing a person who has been bitten by a snake needs to realize is to never panic and try to remain calm. This will reduce stress, keep the heart rate from accelerating and slow the spread of snake venom toxins throughout the body.

Second, you need to get to the nearest medical facility as soon as possible, especially if a person has been bitten by a venomous snake. There will provide the necessary emergency medical care and, if necessary, inject an antidote into the body.

When traveling, it is important to lie down, immobilize the affected limb and keep it in a slightly elevated position, just above the level of the heart. If possible, rinse the bite site with water to remove the venom from the skin surface and apply a sterile dressing. Do not tourniquet the limb or cauterize the wound, as such actions will not help in any way, but will only harm: tourniquets may increase the local effect of the venom and cause tissue necrosis, while cauterizing the skin surface in this case is useless and will cause additional pain.

Affected by a snakebite person should drink a lot of plain, non-carbonated, water. This will help the body more quickly neutralize the effect of poison and reduce its concentration. This method is part of general pre-medical care.

Particular attention should be paid to any changes in the condition of the injured person – this information will be very important for medics.

Assistance to the animal. In general, for a pet that was bitten by a snake, the same rules of assistance that are used to save a person apply. But in this case, you need to apply all possibilities to get the animal to the veterinary clinic as soon as possible. Only a veterinarian will be able to prescribe symptomatic treatment for the pet to maintain its vital functions. Also, if necessary, the doctor will be able to use specific antidotes (serums) against a particular type of poison, neutralizing its toxins.

So, in order to ensure that the above information is never needed in your practical application, you should remember a few rules that will help you avoid snake bites. Namely:

  • going to nature, wear tight clothes with pants tucked into your boots;
  • before making a rest stop, check the place with a stick;
  • avoid potential snake havens – stumps, rocks, haystacks;
  • if you see a snake, wait calmly, at a distance, until it crawls further away.

Stay safe!