CATDOLL : CATDOLL: Interesting Stories about Cockroaches (2) -- The Medicinal Uses of Cockroaches

More than a decade ago, there was a very popular song that sang: "... I am no longer afraid of cockroaches..." At that time, I was indifferent and disdainful of such lyrics. I thought that there was nothing to brag about not being afraid of cockroaches, and it could even be sung into a song. Until I saw the small cockroaches in the north with my own eyes, the big flies in the south were bigger than them. The small cockroaches in the north can only crawl at a snail's pace, while the big cockroaches in the south are more than ten times bigger than their northern brothers. It is said that the cockroaches in Southeast Asia are even more gigantic. When northerners see the big cockroaches flying around in the south, few of them are not terrified to the point of collapse. It must take great courage for northerners to say "I am not afraid of cockroaches".

I felt so bored that I wrote about cockroaches, but I didn't expect that many friends would be interested in this topic, which evoked many childhood memories. When I was a child, when material was still scarce, boys played with mud and sand, slingshots and spinning tops carved from wood, and even various insects. In summer, they used watermelon peels to lure beetles, climbed trees to catch cicadas, caught crickets in the bushes, caught small toads, and so on. The brave little boy caught a cockroach, broke its neck, and threw it into a large basin of water. The headless cockroach had no direction, so it fluttered in the water, flapping its wings and spinning for hours without dying. A group of friends watched the cockroaches struggling in the water, which was a strange sight to behold. Cockroaches have a very strong regenerative ability. Not only can they escape quickly after being injured, but they can also survive for nine days even after being beheaded.

In fact, there are no less than 10,000 species of cockroaches in the world. There are more than 200 species of cockroaches recorded in my country, but most of them live in the forest and feed on fallen leaves and rotten wood. Only a few species of cockroaches like to live in people's homes. Cockroaches are almost everywhere. They get into the house from the stinking ditch, sewer and even water pipe, leaving a very strong and exclusive smell. There were no sprays before, so many older generations had the magical power to break the neck of cockroaches with their bare hands. Mr. Chen, a friend of Jian, said that his grandmother used to go to the kitchen every night to catch cockroaches, break their necks, fill a large bowl, and feed the chickens the next day. The key is that the chickens still like to eat them. Another friend said that when he was a child, he saw his grandmother break the neck of the cockroach, fill a basin of water, and put it in the water. The next day, the headless cockroaches were boiled with Chinese medicine, and it is said that drinking it can detoxify. This is the first time I know that cockroaches are not useless pests.

I couldn't help but become interested in Mr. Cockroach. Here is a summary of the information I found on Baidu: There are more than 1,000 anti-cancer genes in the body of a small cockroach, which other organisms do not have. This is why cockroaches can still survive well in harsh environments. There are many relevant records of the medicinal value of cockroaches in classics such as "Compendium of Materia Medica", "Shennong's Herbal Classic", "Chinese Medicinal Animal Records", and "National Compendium of Chinese Herbal Medicines". According to the "Pharmacopoeia" and "Compendium of Materia Medica", cockroaches are mainly used to treat: congestion, cold and heat, breaking up accumulation, throat obstruction, abdominal cold and childlessness, blood circulation, and food. The immune cells of cockroaches are extremely aggressive and sensitive to diseased cells. Once diseased cells appear, they will immediately sense and engulf the diseased cells, convert them into feces and other excrement and excrete them out of the body, achieving a good therapeutic effect. The antibodies in the cockroach have a significant killing effect on cancer cells, and its extracts have been promoted and applied to various types of cancer treatment by modern medical institutions. CCTV Science and Technology Expo 2009 reported: A woman with cirrhosis of the liver has been cured by eating cockroaches for a long time, and another cancer patient has not had a relapse after eating cockroaches. Cockroaches can also be used for external application to treat trauma, ulcers, fistulas, burns, scalds, and bedsores. It is said to be a good medicine for wounds. In ancient prescriptions, baked cockroaches can be used as a medicine to promote tissue regeneration and hemostasis, and promote wound healing. Cockroach powder is one of the traditional Chinese medicines, which has the effects of promoting blood circulation and dispersing blood stasis, detoxifying and eliminating malnutrition, and diuresis and swelling. The main raw material is dried cockroaches and processed into powder. Cockroach powder is often used to treat liver diseases, especially cirrhosis and ascites. There have been many stubborn and difficult-to-heal wounds that can be completely cured by applying the baked cockroach powder. In some areas, cockroach breeding has become an industry, which has made people "rich overnight" and promoted the development of the regional economy.

The elderly in Dongshan squeeze out the black paste in the belly of the cockroach and apply it on scabies or unidentified swellings to absorb the toxins and achieve a healing effect. Some people even squeeze out the belly of the cockroach and soak it in water to drink. No wonder most elderly people are not afraid of cockroaches. It turns out that in their eyes, cockroaches are not as dirty and scary as we imagine. Perhaps, in the traditional Chinese medicine we have drunk, there have been cockroaches without knowing it.