Health
An analgesic that works more than morphine but has no known side effects has been found in the deadly snake venom.
The black mamba, which uses neurotoxin to paralyze and kill small animals in minutes and humans in a few hours, is one of the most dangerous snakes in Africa. The snake grows up to 4.5 meters and can lift a third of its body off the ground, stopping at adult eye level. It can travel at a speed of 20 km per hour and is the fastest land snake in the world.
After reading all this, you are unlikely to think that black mamba venom can help cope with severe pain.
However, a team of French scientists has identified two proteins in snake venom that instantly relieve pain. Researchers call these proteins “mambalgins,” and they're more effective than morphine, a powerful pain reliever. Moreover, snake painkillers do not have the side effects of opiates, such as addiction, slow breathing, vomiting, muscle twitching, and slow thinking.
Mambalgins stop pain in a completely different way than morphine, which acts on opiate receptors in the brain.
When the proteins were tested on mice, they were able to withstand the effects of hot water on their tails and legs for twice as long. And since the pain mechanism works the same in mice and humans, we can say that a similar effect will be observed in humans.
Scientists do not yet know why black mamba venom has this property, but there are suggestions that it prevents the victim from escaping.