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

•

Maggot Debridement Therapy

Fly larvae as agents of antisepsis

–

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

•

Diptera

– –

family Calliphoridae - the BLOW FLIES family Sarcophagidae - the FLESH FLIES

–

in their larval stage they feed on

“

meat

” •

the buzzards of the insect world

–

some species feed on living tissue

•

be careful in your selection of species.

–

The commonly found/used species

•

Phormia regina sericata

-

P. terraenovae

&

Lucillia

Flesh Fly

Blow Flies

• •

Surgeons began intentionally infesting wounds with fly larvae.

Today:

–

eggs are surface sterilized and placed on a food source (horse meat normally)

–

2 day old larvae inoculated into wound

–

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

–

especially helpful in cases of bone infections (osteomyelitis)

–

discovered that not only did the larvae assist in cleanup of dead tissue, but they also produced an endogenous antibiotic

–

plus they secrete ammonia & calcium carbonate which promote healing

–

A resurgent technology

•

see: BIOMAGGOT.com

HONEY as medicine

• •

A long history as a mendicant

–

ancient Egyptians used it as a wound dressing

–

practiced to this day.

Is is wise to do so??

–

YES

–

and here

’

s why:

Honey in medicine

•

Three mechanisms that account for the medicinal properties of honey

–

pH

•

average of 3.9 - an acid medium

–

Hyperosmotic

•

low moisture content dehydrates (via osmosis) microbial life that enters honey

–

Inhibine

•

a term coined in the mid-1930 ties

“

unknown

”

to describe an antibiotic property of honey

Honey In Medicine

•

A host of testimonial claims for the efficacy of honey

–

burns

–

abrasions

–

bed wetting

–

insomnia

–

hyperactivity

–

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

–

India; 3,000 yrs. BP

–

Known also from the mid-East & So. America Commonly used ant genera

–

Camponotus

- carpenter ants

–

Atta

- leaf-cutter ants

–

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 )

•

the infamous SPANISH FLY

–

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

–

68 species in the genus Lytta

–

Many are native to the countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea.

[note: lytta = rage (Gr.): vesica = blister (L.)]

An African

“

Spanish

”

Fly

•

In Zimbabwe

–

Genus Mayalabris

–

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}

•

It still sells today!

Bee & Wasp Venoms

•

Desensitization of humans hypersensitive to Hymenopteran venoms

• • •

Used in controlled, serial dosages

–

3 to six months

–

begins with the injection of 1/200 th of the venom of one bee or wasp

–

ends with an injection of equivalent venom of two bees or wasps First licensed by the FDA in 1976 Fully licensed in 1980

•

Bee Venom

Vast anecdotal base for help (or

“

cure) for:

–

Arthritis

–

Bursitis

–

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)

–

Two basic principles observed

• •

Ingredients as repulsive as possible insect used must bear some resemblance of the complaint or suffering.

Insects used in the symbolic transfer of disease

•

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.

•

Earwigs

–

Order DERMAPTERA (

“

skin

”

wing)

–

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

•

Elizabethan England (again)

–

as a cure for

Malaria

Insects as medicine

• • •

Grasshoppers to stop the fits

–

NY-late 19 th century

Cockroaches

for measles

–

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

•

For baldness

–

the use of

hairy

insects

–

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

• •

Tarantism

–

a nervous disorder characterized by hysteria

–

& a mania for dancing a form of anxiety displacement

–

believed to be caused by spider bites First observed in the Italian town of TARANTO in the 16 th & 17 th centuries

–

from which the name Tarantula is derived

–

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

•

the largest spider in the world

•

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