Bengaluru: News about YouTuber and reality television star Elvish Yadav being booked for supplying snake venom to Noida rave parties has brought the gaze back on the much-maligned reptile. The use of snake and other reptilian venom for extended periods of high is not a new trend in India, but the Elvish Yadav case shows just how mainstream it has become.
Snake venom is a toxin, and when a person is bitten by a venomous snake by accident, they will experience unpleasant effects to the circulatory or nervous system, or both. Blood clots, paralysis, kidney failure, disability and even death can occur in some cases without timely medical help. However, those who use snake venom for a high, deliberately take a bite on the tongue, lips, ear lobes, or feet.
The risk might not entirely even be worth it, as it is still unclear just how much of a psychotropic effect snake venom has on the body and the brain due to lack of studies.
The police have reportedly seized 20 ml of snake venom, five cobras, a python, two two-headed snakes, and a rat snake in the Elvish Yadav case.
So how does snake venom cause a high and not kill users? The answer lies in the molecules that reptilian venom binds to in our body, and in snake venom’s high medical potency.
Venom in the body
Snake venom is of three types: neurotoxic, which affects the nervous system, cytotoxic, which punctures holes through cells, and the less common myotoxins, which damage muscle cells and tissue.
Cobras, for example, are neurotoxic and their venom disrupts the signals between our nerves and the brain, leading to paralysis and strokes. Vipers are cytotoxic, affecting the circulatory system and killing blood cells, making the blood too clotted to flow or too thin to prevent bleeding out. Sea snakes in India have myotoxins in their venom.
When a snake bite occurs, the venom passes into the body and eventually the bloodstream through the snake’s fangs.
Venom consists of a powerful cocktail of thousands of protein and enzyme molecules, which bind to various receptors in our body, especially those of the nervous system. The concentration of different components creates different effects in the bloodstream.
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Opioid-like ‘high’ & risk of death
Snake venom is an unconventional psychotropic substance, administered by holding up venomous snakes like cobras and vipers, and prompting them to deliver a small bite on an individual’s tongue. The result is described as a high that can last a long time, with mood alteration, dissociation, euphoria, and other symptoms typically associated with opioid use.
When snake venom enters the bloodstream, it binds to receptors that release chemicals like serotonin. These are metabolites that are responsible for metabolic processes — for conversion of food to energy, and other such activities. Venom also releases bradykinin that relaxes muscles, prostaglandins that affect inflammation and muscle contractions, relaxing the body.
Users have reported feeling drowsy after controlled snake bites. Other molecules enhance euphoric and peaceful sensations in the body, and also release inhibited pharmacological molecules already present in the body that amplify such sensations.
Clinical reports have emerged of individuals being addicted to snake venom in India over the last couple of decades, but clinical data available is sparse.
Researchers have noted that many young people resort to using snake venom as a substitute for opioid use and alcohol dependency.
However, owing to less than 10 cases in medical literature about recreational use, there is still no consensus as to whether venom actually produces these effects, or if they are psychosomatic, as many users are also under the influence of opioids or other substances. It is unknown whether venom produces psychedelic effects like hallucinations, none have been reported so far in the literature.
Most substances used for recreational purposes such as alcohol and opioids can be lethal when consumed above a certain threshold. Snake venom has been associated with rave parties in India, and its abuse carries an extremely high risk of death.
Recreational use contributes to smuggling of snakes — many of which are endangered — leading to the deaths of thousands of snakes of different species each year.
Snake venom use in medicine
Injecting venom into the body itself is not new. Cobra venom has been used in ancient India for therapeutic purposes, and is a source of many molecules in medicine even today.
Reptile venom is used widely in medicine, to not only develop anti-venom, but also for other drugs. It is used in the treatment of heart problems including hypertension, stroke, for pulmonary embolism, for development of anti-platelet drugs, and drugs to reduce clot formation during surgeries. The venom of many species is also a strong analgesic or pain-killer, and used as a substitute for morphine for chronic pain.
Lizard venom is used for regulating insulin and treatment of diabetes, while leech venom is used for arthritis and to treat infections during surgeries. Scorpion venom is often used in cancer treatment, while bee venom is also used for cosmetic procedures to produce collagen in the face.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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