Source: On Health Daily Briefings dailybrief@onhealth.com It turns out that catnip not only gets your cat loopy, it's also repels cockroaches more effectively than commercial bug spray. A new study conducted by researchers at Iowa State University in Ames found catnip worked 100 times better than DEET, the main chemical component in commercial bug repellents. The discovery, presented this week at the American Chemical Society meeting in New Orleans, could lead to nontoxic methods for bug control. That possibility excites researchers who say asthma among children, particularly children living in urban areas, is rising due to reactions to roach excrement. The Iowa researchers tested the catnip by placing cockroaches in a cage containing treated and untreated paper. They measured how much time the cockroach spent on each side. So far, researchers have only tested the catnip on small, brown, German cockroaches; they've yet to test it on the thumb-sized, American cockroaches. Researchers are also looking at nontoxic repellents for mosquitoes. Researchers also say chemicals found in the hedge apple, an inedible softball-sized fruit also called an Osage orange, keep cockroaches at bay. Ann's NOTE: A friend tells me that just as cats love catnip, so do mice. She suggests that this could be a problem in some locations. University of Idaho Remember we are NOT Doctors and have NO medical training. This site is like an Encylopedia - there are many pages, many links on many topics. Support our work with any size DONATION - see left side of any page - for how to donate. You can help raise awareness of CAM.