DAILY NEWS (Lebanon, Pennsylvania) 12 August 08 Fascination with frogs holds hope for healing (Brad Rhen)
Poison-dart frogs get their name because indigenous people sometimes use the frogs’ toxic excretions to poison the tips of arrows and blow darts, making them lethal.
A Lebanon County native living in Florida is hoping to one day conduct research to see if the deadly excretions can be used to heal.
Alan Cole’s fascination with frogs started when he worked at his parents’ pet store, Steve’s Fish Haven, at the former Hill’s shopping center, now home of The Home Depot. While working at the pet store, Cole read an article on poison-dart frogs.
He learned that are more than 175 species of poison-dart frogs, existing mostly in tropical, humid climates. They have vibrantly colored skin that acts as a warning sign to predators. The animals are small, ranging in size from 0.4 to 2.4 centimeters in length, depending on age, sex and species, and can live for 11⁄2 to 21⁄2 years. The most toxic of the species is the 2-inch golden poison frog.
“I just fell in love,” said Cole, now 24. “I thought, ‘Wow, they’re really cool!’ And I just started reading up on them a bunch.”
Cole, who moved from this area in 1992 when he was in third grade, now lives in Apollo Beach, Fla. He is attending graduate school at Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine’s Bradenton School of Pharmacy in Bradenton.
At one time, Cole had between 50 and 70 poison-dart frogs that ranged from tadpoles to adults. He sold some before starting college and now has about 25 in a 90-gallon tank.
Cole’s interest in the frogs is separate from his school work now, but that could change. He said he hopes to do some research later, but he doesn’t have the time right now.
“Maybe later on,” he said. “I really enjoy it. It’s been a part of my life for as long as I can remember.”
Cole’s interest in the medicinal values of poison-dart frogs stems not just from a youthful fascination he developed years ago. Shortly after his family moved to Florida, his parents were involved in a serious automobile accident near Jacksonville. His father, Steve, was thrown from vehicle and suffered five broken ribs, a broken right shoulder, two broken vertebrae and two dislocated vertebrae.
Doctors prescribed several pain medications for his injuries.
“For a while, I didn’t feel like I had a dad because he was so doped up on pain meds,” the younger Cole said. “He was always tired or groggy.”
The situation was also rough on his father. In addition to the pain he suffered, Steve said, all the pain medications he was on affected him physically and mentally.
“You sometimes don’t realize your mood swings, and I didn’t realize that I was getting as grumpy as I was,” he said. “There was one drug in particular after I got off of it I realized how bad it was working on me mentally.”
Steve had surgery on his right leg about a year ago and still has not worked since the accident. He said he is extremely proud of son for his work with poison-dart frogs.
“If he can create a medicine that can take care of the pain and not have some of the side effects that other medicines have, that’s his goal, because he had to live with it,” he said.
In addition to his own health issues, Steve said his aunt has cancer, and his uncle has hip problems. Both are also on pain medications and might one day be affected by his son’s work.
“How many people are on pain medicine?” Steve asked. “There are so many people, and if he can come up with something in his lifetime, it will probably benefit a lot of people.”
The younger Cole is scheduled to graduate in 2011. He’s had several conversations with doctors at the Hershey Medical Center and said there’s an outside chance he could conduct research there.
“We’ll see what the opportunities are when I get out there,” he said.
PA Press: Fascination with frogs holds hope for healing