Puffers for pain

ENOR

AFans of fine Japanese cuisine or the esoteric art of Haitian voodoo will be familiar with the puffer fish, aka the fugu. The fugu enjoys the rare though not necessarily enviable distinction of having the most lethal skin, intestines, livers and gonads in the world. In Japan, diners swoon over its specially prepared cuts (even though it kills almost 200 people a year); and Haitian sorcerers are helpless without it if they want to zombify a hapless victim. But the fugu’s toxic properties are also being used to treat heroin addiction and patients suffering from terminal cancer. Research is now being conducted into the properties of the fugu’s lethal poison, tetrodotoxin (TTX) at six centres across Canada, much of it in Montreal.

“The [potential benefits] of the puffer fish have been known for a long time,” says Montreal’s Dr. Anh Hongoc, the chief scientific officer in charge of the research for International Wex, a Vancouver-based company. “There was early chemical testing done in China on heroin addicts before the research was moved to North America sometime last year.” She says 2,000 Chinese addicts were treated with the non-narcotic to cope with withdrawal pains. Tests to treat pain in cancer patients are now being researched, and are said to be successful in animals. The company hopes to move into Europe and the States for future research.

International Wex is looking for terminally ill cancer patients to volunteer for tests. They can be reached toll free at 1-800-722-7549. :

—Patrick Lejtenyi