Snake man's venom habit holds hope for new antidote

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Scientists are searching for a new antidote to snake venom based on London-based reptile enthusiast and musician Steve Ludwin's practice of injecting the lethal dose.

Ludwin has been experimenting the venom for nearly 30 years and it has almost killed him.

It may now help save thousands of lives, as researchers search for a new antidote based on his body's response to the toxic fluids.

"It sounds very crazy what I am doing but it turns out that it potentially has lots of health benefits," Ludwin, the tattooed 51-year-old told in the living room of his home in the British capital.

Ludwin demonstrated his decades-old habit by firmly holding the head of a green Pope's tree viper, Trimeresurus popeiorum, and extracting a few drops of its venom. Minutes later, he has injected the fluid into his arm using a syringe.

Steve Ludwin gathers snake venom with a syringe after extracting the venom from a Pope's Pit Viper at his apartment in Kennington, south London, November 9, 2017. /AFP Photo

Over the years Ludwin has injected the venom of some of the world's most dangerous snakes, including the black mamba and cobras.

He claimed it has strengthened his immune system so much he has not suffered from a cold in 15 years. But it has not been all positive.

"I have had quite a few accidents", Ludwin said, recalling he once ended up in a London hospital's intensive care unit for three days following an overdose.

"It's a very very dangerous thing to do, I don't encourage people to do it."

"The sensation of injecting snake venom is not pleasant at all... It's not like a Jim Morrison trip. You don't trip, it's extreme pain," said Ludwin, who wears a snake pendant.

Steve Ludwin with a Honduran milk snake outside his apartment in Kennington, south London, November 9, 2017. /AFP Photo

His habit has taken on new meaning in recent years after a team of researchers at the University of Copenhagen embarked on producing an anti-venom using his antibodies.

"When he injects venom, his immune system responds," Brian Lohse, a professor at the faculty of health and medical sciences at the University of Copenhagen, said in a phone interview.

"What we expect is to find copies of his antibodies, isolate them, test them, and eventually set up a production of them."

Four full-time researchers, who began work in 2013, expect to complete the project within a year.

Source(s): AFP