Blatta Ori

A remedy made from the common household cockroach, used in homoeopathy since the 1890s for wheezing and breathlessness with thick, rattling mucus.

Blatta orientalis is the oriental cockroach, a large, glossy, dark brown insect that lives in damp, dark corners of houses around the world. Older homoeopathic books call it the Indian cockroach. Its use began with reports in the 1890s, after an asthmatic patient was said to have improved on drinking tea in which one had been steeped.

It is traditionally used for wheezing and breathlessness, especially when the chest is heavy with thick mucus and a cough lingers on. Old texts describe it as suiting stout, heavily built people, and complaints that are worse in rainy weather.

• Wheezing
• Breathlessness
• Rattling chest mucus
• Lingering cough