Look What Crawled Up

Abstract

Throughout time and around the world insects have been used medicinally in multiple cultures. Termites in Ayurveda have been used to treat conditions such as ulcers, anemia and rheumatic diseases. Bee venom, also called Melittin, has been proposed to treat inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis. Maggot therapy has been shown to be effective in wound cleaning. Wasp venom has been studied to help kill cancer cells through certain pathways. Extracts from the silkworm have been used by many healers in Asia to treat a broad variety of symptoms, from flatulence to seizure disorders. Although some examples listed may have been proven to be somewhat effective, a vast array of research is still required to determine the validity of such methods in the field of medical entomology. We present a 50-year-old Hispanic female with no significant past medical history who presented for a screening colonoscopy. During the procedure a bead like object was noted. As the colonoscope was advanced a vast amount of these object were encountered. On closer inspection it was confirmed that these were dead insects that were occupying her colon from the cecum to the ascending colon. Upon further questioning, the patient admitted to the ingestion of “gorgojos chinos.” Gorgojos Chinos is a type of beetle better known as the flour bug or the Chinese weevil from the cucolionoioidea superfamily. This appears to be a growing tradition in the Hispanic population. It is believed that once these insects die in the stomach they secret an enzyme that can strengthen the body's defenses against various diseases ranging from AIDS to diabetes. Despite anecdotal information on various online forums, there is limited if any scientific literature presented on gorgojos chinos and its health claims. To our knowledge, we report the first case of gorgojos chinos found incidentally during colonoscopy.Figure 1Figure 2Figure 3