Blatta, Cockroach Oriental Cockroach, Water Bug, Black Beetle Zhang Lang (TCM) Bse spur (Tibet) Banat wardan (Unani)

Oriental Cockroach (Blatta orientalis) Manual of Organic Materica Medica, Sayre, 1879

American Cockroach (Periplaneta americana) (Principal Household Insects of the United States, Howard, 1896)

Entomological name:

Blatta orientalis (syn. Periplaneta orientalis, Stylopyga orientalis)
The American Cockroach, Periplaneta americana, appears to have been used similarly in Latin America. Reference to “Latin America” in the Uses below indicate the American Cockroach. It appears the Oriental and American Cockroach has been used synonymously in China.

Parts used:

Dried body, with head, wings and legs removed

Temperature & Taste:

Warm, dry. Pungent

Classification:

Uses:

1. Moves the Blood, Clears Stasis: (West, TCM, Tibet)
-masses and accumulation in the abdomen: Tumors and Fibroids (TCM)
-hardness of the Liver or Spleen; Hepatic Fibrosis
-clinically useful in Cancer treatment in China, especially for Liver Cancer
-promotes Menstruation, Amenorrhea, Dysmenorrhea (Avicenna, Russia, Latin America)
-used to induce Abortion (Avicenna)
-Uterine pain. (Avicenna)
-Infantile Malnutrition (TCM); also used for Infantile diseases in Tibetan Medicine

2. Resists Poison: (West, TCM, Tibet)
-Abscesses, Sores, Carbuncles (West, TCM, Latin America)
-previously used for Psoriasis and Leprosy (Fernie)
-acute Sore Throat, Tonsillitis
-“useful in Shvering Fever”. (Avicenna)
-Septic Fever (Tibetan, Drungtso)
-Snake and Insect Bite (TCM)
-“useful against Poisons of Insects”. (Avicenna)

3. Clears Damp, Promotes Urine: (West)
-promotes Urine in Dysuria, Edema (Avicenna); Russians have long used it for Edema
-it was found beneficial in Nephritis and Albuminuria (see below)
-Kidney pain (Avicenna)
-used as a diuretic into the 19th century (Manual of Organic Materica Medica, Sayre, 1879)

4. Stops Cough and Wheezing:
-difficulty Breathing (Pliny)
-Spasmodic Cough, Bronchitis, Asthma, Difficulty Breathing (West, Latin America)
-it was especially said to be useful in Chronic Asthma
-used for Spasms in Tibetan medicine

5. Externally:
-Piles
-Sores, Warts, scaly Eruptions, indolent Sores (oil)
-an oil prepared by pounding them in oil is used for Earache (Dioscorides)

Dose:

Powder: 300–600mg (as a dose for an adult, over the course of 24 hours for children)
Infusion: 1–3 dried and crushed insects are infused in a cup of boiling water
Tincture (1 in 10): 5–30 drops

Substitute:

1. Used similarly to Pill Millipede and Wingless Cockroach Tu Bie Chong
2. Pumice (Avicenna)

Comment:

A number of medicines derived from Cockroach have been approved for medicinal use in China:

1. ‘Kang Fu Xin’: Mucositis and Gastric Ulcers following chemotherpy; positive effect against Stomach Cancer,
   
2. ‘Xin Mai Long’: an amino acid complex mainly used for Chronic Heart failure,
   
3. ‘Gan Long Capsule’: therapeutically effective against Hepatic Fibrosis.
   

Preparation:

In all cases, the dried insect is prepared by removing the head, legs and wings.
1. Dry-Fried Cockroach
  The dried insect is dry-fried until slightly browned. This may be facilitated by frying in hot sand or other suitable media. This helps remove their foul smell, helps to sterilize them, and makes them warmer and less pungent. It is therefore best for Cold-type accumulation.
2. Wine-Fried Cockroach:
  The dried insects are sprinkled with alcohol, or may be steeped in alcohol briefly. They are then gently stir-fried or heated in an oven until dry. This makes them stronger to move the blood.

Main Combinations:

1. Asthma: “Blatta orientalis is highly recommended in 2 to 3 grain doses every 1 to 4 hours as the case demands” (Materia Medica and Clinical Therapeutics, Petersen, 1905)
2. Hepatic Fibrosis, Cockroack, Dandelion (Pu Gong Ying), Scutellaria barbata Bai Zhi Lian, Bupleurum Chai Hu
3. Edema: “Dr. Anterberger furnished details of four cases of dropsy after scarlet fever in which the Blatta orienialis proved of great Utility”. (Animal Simples approved for modern Uses of Cure, Fernie, 1899)
4. Nephritis: “Dr. Bogomolow,of St. Petersburg, in 1877 treated nine cases of this disease (in some of whom there were complieations of heart mischief and dropsy), with Cockroaches, and in all the beneficial result was increase of urine and Perspiration, with rapid subsidence of the dropsy, also with almost complet disappearance of albumen from the urine and of morbid kidney produets. The dose given was from fve to ten grains of the powdered insects within twenty-four hours: also a tincture and an infusion were sometimes substituted”. (Animal Simples approved for modern Uses of Cure, Fernie, 1899)
5. Blood stasis, abdominal masses, Cockroach, Rhubarb, Madder, Myrrh, Cinnamon
6. Piles: “It is useful in Piles when mixed with Caraway” (Avicenna)

Major Formulas:

Cautions:

1. Cockroaches are known to carry disease. They have also been shown to be carriers of human parasites. When they are used, they should be treated with heat or alcohol to sterilize.
2. Childhood asthma is associated with Cockroach allergens. It has been shown that there are higher levels of asthma when there are Cockroaches in the home. Therefore, some people may have allergic reactions to its use.

Main Preparations used:

Tincture

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Nothing at Present
GENERAL / REVIEW
–A minireview of the medicinal and edible insects from the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM)

ANTIBACTERIAL:
–Screening of antibacterial activity and biochemical assay from haemolymph of cockroach Blatta orientalis (Linnaeus, 1758)

ANTI-ANAPHYLACTIC:
–Anti-asthmatic and anti-anaphylactic activities of Blatta orientalis mother tincture

ANTI-ASTHMATIC
–Anti-asthmatic and anti-anaphylactic activities of Blatta orientalis mother tincture

ANTI-TUMOR
–Anti-tumor effects of the American cockroach, Periplaneta americana