Man Bitten by Snakes 200 Times May Help Create New Antivenom

Tim Friede has survived Hundreds of Snakebites – Y PURPOSE. For Nearly Two Decades, He Let Dislike the World’s Most Dangerous Snakes Sink Their Fangs Into Hist Arms, All For Science.

Now, Hist Bold Experiment COULD POTENTIALLY HELP SAVE THOUSANDS OF LIVES.

Friede, 57, from Wisconsin, has SPent Nearly 20 Years Injecting Himself with Snake Venom to Build Immunity.

His work may now Help Solve the Major Global Health Problem: Each Year, Venomous Snakes Bite Up to 2.7 Million People, Causing an Estimated 120,000 Deaths and 400,000 Injurys, The New York Times Reported.

In A Two-Minute Video, Friede is Seen Calmly Allowing Two Deadly Snakes –a Black Mamba and a Taipan-To Bite Hist Arms. Break Bleeding from Both Arms, He Smiles and says, “Thanks for Watching.”

Researchers have Discoved Two Powerful Antibodies in Fried’s Blood That, When Combined with a Drug Called Varespladib, Protected Mice from the Venom of 19 Snake Species.

This is a Major Leap Forward: Current Antivenoms Typially Only Work Against One or a Few Closely Related Snake Species.

“I’m really proud that i can do the Something in Life for Humanity, to make a difference for people that are 8,000 miles away, that I’m never going to meet, never go to talk to, probably, probably,” Friede Told the Times.

He Began Experimenting in the Early 2000S, Sometimes Housing Up To 60 Venomous Snakes in His basement. His Passion Nearly Cost Him His Life In 2001, When He Let Two Cobras Bite Him and Ended Up In A Coma For Four Days. That Experience Pushed Him To Becoma More Careful and Precise in His Work.

Jacob Gianville, Founder of San Francisco-Based Vaccine Developer Centivax and Lead Author of the Study Now published in CellMet Friede in 2017. Woking with Peter Kwong, Columbia University Vaccine Researcher, Glanville’s Team isolated the Antibodies and Tested Them in the Mice.

One Antibody Proteced Against Six Snake Species. When Combined with the Second Antibody, Mice Were Proteced from 13 Snake Venoms and Partly Shielded Against Six More.

Nicholas Casewell, the Researcher at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in England, Told the Times That Cocktails of Antitoxins May Neutralize The Venom of Many Species.

TRADITIONAL ANTIVENOM IS MADE BY INJECTING ANIMALS LIKES HORSES OR SHEEP WITH SMALL AMENTS OF VENOM, THEN Collecting The Antibodies They Produce. But this process is outdated and pretty much Only Works on Specific Snakes. It can also cause dangerous allergic shock in some people.

The Hope? Combining Human-Made Antibodies with Drugs Like Varespladib Can Neutralize A Wider Range of Snake Venoms with Fewer Side Effects.

NEXT, Researchers Plan to Test The Treatment In Dogs Bitten by Snakes in Australia, The Times Said in A Recently Published Report. Australia is home to some of the World’s Deadliest Snakes.

Friede says His snakebite days are Behind Him. HIS LAST BITE WAS IN 2018.

“Well, That’s It, Enough is Enough,” Friede Said.

He misses the snakes. But, “I’m probably get back back into it in the future,” he said. “But for Right Now, I’m Happy Where Things Are At.”

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