Lookout Viagra, there's a new ED treatment in town and it comes from banana spider venom

• A new treatment for erectile dysfunction just passed its first phase of human testing in Brazil.
• The treatment comes from the venom of the Brazilian banana spider. 
• The treatment is a gel, not a pill, so more people who can't take pills may be able to use it. 

When a human gets bit by the venomous Brazilian banana spider (Phoneutria nigriventer), their initial symptoms — rash, sweating, nausea — may sound normal for a spider bite. But what may develop later is a bit more unorthodox — a painful, hours-long erection. 

That rigid reaction is the basis behind a new erectile dysfunction treatment that passed its first round of human testing. The treatment uses a synthetic form of the Brazilian banana spider's venom in a gel that users can apply directly to their genitalia.

The drug still has to pass through other trials before it's approved for commercial use, but passing the first round shows that the gel is safe for humans and does what it's prescribed to do. 

With these early results, the gel has "great potential to become an internationally recognized medicine," Carolina Nunes, a biologist whose been studying the banana spiders' venom for almost two decades, told EuroNews.

The Brazilian banana spider, not to be confused with the harmless banana spider in the US, is found around the jungles of South America.

Scientists like Nunes have been investigating its venom as a treatment for ED since at least 2008. 

How the spider venom-inspired gel helps treat ED

The cause of ED can be psychological or physical. If it's physical, using medications like Viagra or Cialis, which increase blood flow to the penis, usually does the trick.

But not everyone can take these medications. Because ED pills relax blood vessels and increase blood flow around the whole body, people with low blood pressure, kidney or liver disease, or a history of stroke or heart attack may not be able to take it. 

But the gel only targets the area it's applied to, and doesn't have effects all over the body, which means it would probably be safer for the 30% of people who can't take the already available oral treatments, according to Interesting Engineering. 

The first round of testing also included women, and found that the treatment was safe and effective for them to use too. Some of the problems that women suffer in the bedroom may also be solved by increasing blood flow to their genitalia.

The next round of testing will compare the drug to other available erectile medications to see if it works better.