Transcript Insects & Medicine
Pests, Plagues & Politics Lecture 11 Insects & Medicine
•
Medicine
–
Etymology { the study of word origins }
•
derived from the same Greek word as
“
mead
”
which was/has been reported to have remarkable curative properties.
Key Points
• Wound Debridement • Medicinal properties of honey • Insect Sutures • Aphrodisiacs • Historic use of insects
as
medicine
Insects as healing agents
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Maggot Debridement Therapy
Fly larvae as agents of antisepsis
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Sepsis (Gr.
‘
sepsis
’
= putrefaction)
– “
poisoning caused by the absorption into the blood of pathogenic micro-organisms
”
• Discovered in the U.S. Civil War that fly-
blown wounds healed faster & cleaner.
• Caused the surgeons to investigate this
phenomenon.
• Wound Myiasis – “
an infection of the organs or tissues of man or animals by fly larvae that, for at least a period of time, feed upon the living or dead tissues .
”
Flies Responsible
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Diptera
– –
family Calliphoridae - the BLOW FLIES family Sarcophagidae - the FLESH FLIES
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in their larval stage they feed on
“
meat
” •
the buzzards of the insect world
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some species feed on living tissue
•
be careful in your selection of species.
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The commonly found/used species
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Phormia regina sericata
-
P. terraenovae
&
Lucillia
Flesh Fly
Blow Flies
• •
Surgeons began intentionally infesting wounds with fly larvae.
Today:
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eggs are surface sterilized and placed on a food source (horse meat normally)
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2 day old larvae inoculated into wound
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larvae flushed out with saline in 3 or 4 days and younger larvae added as necessary.
Phormia regina
Eats only dead tissue
“
And the gilded little fly does lecher in my sight.
Let copulation thrive!!
”
Shakespeare - King Lear
Calliphoria vomitoria
Bad choice.
This species will eat living tissue.
The working end of a blow fly larva
.
You may wish to avert your eyes
Blow Flies
•
Maggot debridement therapy
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especially helpful in cases of bone infections (osteomyelitis)
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discovered that not only did the larvae assist in cleanup of dead tissue, but they also produced an endogenous antibiotic
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plus they secrete ammonia & calcium carbonate which promote healing
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A resurgent technology
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see: BIOMAGGOT.com
HONEY as medicine
• •
A long history as a mendicant
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ancient Egyptians used it as a wound dressing
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practiced to this day.
Is is wise to do so??
–
YES
–
and here
’
s why:
Honey in medicine
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Three mechanisms that account for the medicinal properties of honey
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pH
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average of 3.9 - an acid medium
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Hyperosmotic
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low moisture content dehydrates (via osmosis) microbial life that enters honey
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Inhibine
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a term coined in the mid-1930 ties
“
unknown
”
to describe an antibiotic property of honey
Honey In Medicine
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A host of testimonial claims for the efficacy of honey
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burns
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abrasions
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bed wetting
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insomnia
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hyperactivity
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ad nauseum
She almost had it right!!!
Insect Sutures Soldier ants
A nice example of polymorphic caste extremism.
Army ant soldier Major and minor worker of E. burchelli
Ant Stitches
• •
An ancient practice
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India; 3,000 yrs. BP
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Known also from the mid-East & So. America Commonly used ant genera
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Camponotus
- carpenter ants
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Atta
- leaf-cutter ants
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Eciton
- army ants
Insects AS Medicine
•
Blister Beetles
–
source of CANTHARIDIN
• • •
a blistering agent hexahydro-3,7-dimethyl-4, 4 epoxyisobenzofuran-1, 3-dione ( just in case you wanted to know )
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the infamous SPANISH FLY
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a putative aphrodisiac
A bit of mythology
Cantharidin
• A defensive chemical produced by beetles to ward off predator attacks – reflex bleeding (autohemorrhization) – dried beetles contain up to 1% cantharidin by weight – toxic, blistering agent • 30 mg a fatal dose for humans – Recommended by such worthies as • Hippocrates & Galen ‘ …
to stimulate certain internal organs
.
’
The real Spanish Fly
• • • •
Order Coleoptera Family Meloidae G.& s. Lytta vesicatoria 2,000 species of blister beetles
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68 species in the genus Lytta
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Many are native to the countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea.
[note: lytta = rage (Gr.): vesica = blister (L.)]
An African
“
Spanish
”
Fly
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In Zimbabwe
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Genus Mayalabris
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Known locally as
“
vuka-vuka
”
•vuka means
“
wake up
” –
Most potent concoction is known as
“
Squirrel
’
s Jump
” •
squirrels considered to be very romantic animals…
BLISTER BEETLES SEE, it works!!!!!
Insects as aphrodisiacs
• • •
2002 Review article by Prischmann & Sheppard 24 insect families with
“
proven
”
efficacy by various species (beetles, bugs, bees, wasps, ants moths, et alia.
Used as general aphrodisiacs, love potions, E.D.
“
stimulants
”
[entomological Viagra], potency enhancements & on and on.
A history as old a Hippocrates [the father of medicine] and Galen {2 nd century Greek}
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It still sells today!
Bee & Wasp Venoms
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Desensitization of humans hypersensitive to Hymenopteran venoms
• • •
Used in controlled, serial dosages
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3 to six months
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begins with the injection of 1/200 th of the venom of one bee or wasp
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ends with an injection of equivalent venom of two bees or wasps First licensed by the FDA in 1976 Fully licensed in 1980
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Bee Venom
Vast anecdotal base for help (or
“
cure) for:
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Arthritis
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Bursitis
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M.S.
•
NIH-OAM funded an M.S.
study in 1998
• •
BVT very popular in the world of alternative medicine.
Insects AS Medicine
• • • “
Mea culpa est ignorami
”
Insects in pharmacopoeia (drug ref. Books)
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Two basic principles observed
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Ingredients as repulsive as possible insect used must bear some resemblance of the complaint or suffering.
Insects used in the symbolic transfer of disease
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ancient dogma :
“
similia smilibus curentur
” •
also known as the Doctrine of Signatures • Sympathetic Medicines - Law of Similarity or
Earwigs for Deafness
• •
Elizabethan England Dried & powdered
earwigs
mixed with rabbit urine & poured into the ears twice daily.
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Earwigs
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Order DERMAPTERA (
“
skin
”
wing)
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small group of nocturnal scavengers that do NOT crawl into human ears.
The European Earwig Order DERMAPTERA
“
Mother & Child(s)
”
Post-natal care, & rather rare in the insect world.
Cockroach Soup
Jazz great Louie Armstrong related that his mother would often feed him cockroach soup at times of childhood illness.
Bed Bug Broth
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Elizabethan England (again)
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as a cure for
Malaria
Insects as medicine
• • •
Grasshoppers to stop the fits
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NY-late 19 th century
Cockroaches
for measles
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place the insect in a jar or under a thimble and allow it to die - thereby
“
transferring
”
the disease from human to bug.
Singing insects
for ear & throat problems
–
Europe during the Middle Ages
Insects as medicine
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For baldness
–
the use of
hairy
insects
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Pliny in HISTORIA NATURALIS
• “
The heads of flies, applied fresh to the bald place is a convenient medicine for the said infirmity & defect.
” –
1743: English Medical Dictionary
• “
Powdered bees contribute to the growth of hair
”
Spiders as medicine
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Tarantism
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a nervous disorder characterized by hysteria
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& a mania for dancing a form of anxiety displacement
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believed to be caused by spider bites First observed in the Italian town of TARANTO in the 16 th & 17 th centuries
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from which the name Tarantula is derived
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from which the folk dance
“
Tarantella
”
is derived
Recommended cure for Tarantism was to
eat
live spiders!!!
Watch the Tarantella!
YUMMY!!!
South America
• •
Theraphosa blondi
, The Goliath Bird-eater
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the largest spider in the world
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To cook, it must be roasted in fire to
“
burn off the toxic hairs
” •
Roasted for roughly seven minutes, and then cracked open like crabs
•
Abdomen has actual
“
meat
”
in it
•
Supposedly tastes like smoked crab
Key Points
• Wound Debridement • Medicinal properties of honey • Insect Sutures • Aphrodisiacs • Historic use of insects
as
medicine