ANIMAL MAGIC

THIS week: Shellfish for bleeding wounds

WHEN paramedics need to stem heavy bleeding, they often rely on bandages with one vital ingredient — crab shells. The outer skeleton of crustaceans such as crabs, lobster and shrimp contain a fibrous substance, chitosan, which has proved to be remarkably haemostatic — which means it rapidly stops heavy bleeding.

One such bandage, Celox, is used by the military and has been shown to halt heavy blood loss in just three minutes by speeding up blood clotting.

The substance is hypoallergenic (it rarely, if ever, triggers an adverse allergic reaction) and has anti-bacterial properties, reducing the risk of infection. Because the body does not react to it, chitosan is also used to bulk up tablets or is added to oral solutions to help mask the bitter taste of the drug itself.