NEW HEALTH CRAZE: FROG POISON

Here’s the latest health craze — deadly frog venom. Kambo is the name of a gluey substance secreted on the skin of the Amazon Giant Monkey Frog when it is threatened. People are claiming it has curative properties — but it comes at a cost. The treatments begin with a person’s skin being burned and then the venom is applied to the wound. It causes immediate and severe short-term symptoms including projectile vomiting, diarrhea, increased heart rate and a swollen face. People who do this look at the side effects as an intensive “cleanse.” One user, Julia Allison, a San Francisco-based media strategist, said, “It was the worst experience of my life, and I can’t wait to do it again.” Hospitalizations and even deaths have been reported, a problem exacerbated by a lack of trained professionals able to administer Kambo, although the International Association of Kambo Practitioners – a nonprofit based out of the Netherlands – has now certified more than 400 specialists.
* I’ve had the same reaction from bad shellfish.
* And certain episodes of “Dr. Pimple Popper.”
* Meanwhile the Amazon Giant Monkey Frogs are wondering why their defense mechanism suddenly isn’t keeping people away.
* Imagine working really hard to avoid COVID, just so you can go through this.
* I once saw Amazon Giant Monkey Frog open for Cage the Elephant.