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Snake Venom for Stroke

Reviewed By: Cynthia Haines,

SOURCES: This Video is from the WebMD Video Archive.Medical Reference from Medstar Television. www.medstar.comAmerican Heart Association, http://www.americanheart.org National Stroke Association, http://www.strokeassociation.org

© 1999-2011 Medstar Television

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Narrator:

When Steve Gaul suffered a stroke, he had no idea a snake would come to his rescue. Stricken at night, Steve woke up unable to move his right arm or speak.

Steve Gaul, Stroke Patient:

The only thing I could say was yes and no.

Narrator:

As part of a study at Lehigh Valley Hospital, doctors gave Steve an experimental drug, called ancrod (AN'-krahd), made from snake venom. The Malaysian pit viper's venom prevents its victim's blood from clotting.

Peter Barbour, MD, Neurologist, Lehigh Valley Hospital:

They knew that it causes the blood to become thinned when the victim is bitten, and they figured out how that thinning occurs and applied it to medical conditions.

Narrator:

Researchers see ancrod as an alternative to the clot-dissolving drug T-P-A. Ancrod, given intravenously over several days, reduces a clotting protein in your blood, with less risk of hemorrhaging.

Peter Barbour, MD, Neurologist, Lehigh Valley Hospital:

Its major effect is to make the blood less sticky, less viscous, so that it can flow more easily. So it improves circulation to the area that needs circulation improved.

Narrator:

It worked for Steve, but he had to learn to read, speak, and write all over again.

Steve Gaul, Stroke Patient:

Probably when I was in the first grade was a lot better than this.

Narrator:

Getting treatment fast is the key. Both ancrod and T-P-A must be given within the first three hours of a brain attack.

Peter Barbour, MD, Neurologist, Lehigh Valley Hospital:

If you can re-establish circulation in a timely fashion, you can save that tissue and limit the extent of the stroke. And that's the purpose of these things and they do work.

Narrator:

A snake's poisonous weapon... Harnessed to save lives. For WebMD, I'm Damon Meharg.

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