Impotent? Black widow to the rescue

0 Comments | AFP, April, 2007

JERUSALEM (AFP) — Israeli researchers are looking into whether venom from spiders, including the deadly black widow, could help cure impotency, a newspaper reported on Thursday.

The research was launched after observations that some men bitten by spiders "suffered from prolonged erections," the mass-selling daily Yediot Aharonot said.

"This is the first research of its kind and could help a great number of men," the paper said.

Among the spiders beings studied are the black widow, the female spider who is known for sometimes eating her mate after copulation, as well as two other arachnids that can be found in Africa and South America, it said.

The research is being carried out by the urology department at Rambam Hospital in the northern city of Haifa.

© 2007 AFP