No Pain, No Gain

Spiders give most folks – even macho men – the heebie jeebies. So a bite from one cannot be fun, can it? Well, actually, it can. A bite from the Brazilian wandering spider (Phoneutria Nigriventer – if you want to get technical) not only stings, but its venom gives the male victim the mother of all erections – which can last up to an hour.

In Brazil, emergency room staff can immediately spot the stung guys. Patients not only experience overall pain and an increase in blood pressure, they also sport an uncomfortable erection. Now scientists have figured out the chemical that seems to be responsible for the penis boost.

Remember that old saying, "if I could bottle this, I’d make a fortune?" Considering that about 18 million men in the US, alone, suffer from erectile dysfunction, this could turn out to be a real possibility. One team of doctors seems on the way there.

Doctors at the Georgia Medical have separated the different components of the spider venom; and have run tests on rats to seek out the erectile enhancer. Dubbed Tx2-6, the compound turned out to be a relatively short string of amino acids called a peptide. Then, they injected the venom-chemical into rats stimulated to begin an erection. A tiny needle-like device inserted into each rat’s penis measured the pressure change, which corresponds with the increase in blood flow to the blood vessels inside the penis. Compared with control rats, those injected with the peptide showed a significant increase in penis pressure.

I sure hope they manage to confine the testing to rats; and not require human guinea pigs. I cannot imagine even the bravest Rambo resisting a shudder at the thought of a needle-like device inserted into his manhood. It would freak me out, for sure.