Curare << kyu RAH ree >> is the name for various substances used as arrow poison by Indians in South America. It is derived mainly from varieties of the plants Chondodendron tomentosum and Strychnos toxifera. Curare has also been used by doctors to relax skeletal muscles during certain medical procedures.
South American Indians have used curare-poisoned arrows for hunting for hundreds of years. When curare enters an animal’s bloodstream or body tissues, it paralyzes the skeletal muscles, including those necessary for breathing. The animal suffocates as a result.
In 1856, the French physiologist Claude Bernard showed that curare works by blocking the passage of nerve impulses to skeletal muscles. In the second half of the 1800’s, some doctors used curare in treating epilepsy and tetanus. Today, synthetic drugs similar to curare are used along with anesthetics to relax the patient’s abdominal muscles during abdominal surgery. Doctors also use synthetic curare to relax the throat muscles during certain throat examinations. Doctors administer synthetic curare intravenously (into a vein) in appropriate doses.
