NAIJA NEWS
Using herbal concoctions and mixtures have recently become a trend, as most Nigerians believe and trust them.
The debate concerning the efficacy of traditional herbs and orthodox medicines has been ongoing for decades, especially in this part of the world.
In Nigeria, even though the healthcare system, with its loads of challenges, has evolved, most Nigerians still believe in patronizing traditional herbs sellers because they believe they are more efficacious than orthodox medicines
However, Naija News reports that the use of these brewed or mixed local herbs, popularly called ‘agbo‘ in the Yoruba language, has also continued to cause concern to the medical industry.
An article in a World Health Organisation (WHO) bulletin titled: “Herbal medicine research and global health: an ethical analysis” by Jon C Tilburt and Ted J Kaptchuk stated that “Traditional herbal medicines are naturally occurring plant-derived substances with minimal or no industrial processing that have been used to treat illnesses within local or regional healing practices.”
The above is evidence that the WHO recognizes the efficacy of herbal-based medicines, but only when appropriately prepared, under the right circumstance, and with the required standard.
Hitherto, the assumption was that the consumption of ‘agbo’ was solely confined to illiterates, rural dwellers, and the indigent in society. However, that has become a fallacy, as it is the go-to first aid for most urban dwellers in recent times.
However, more concerns have been raised about the consumption of these concoctions, especially about their preparation.
Attesting to this fact, Consultant Nephrologist/ MD DOREN Specialist Hospital, Dr. Adedamola Akinsiku, explained that the huge burden associated with the consumption of herbal concoction is not just limited to renal infections but also affects every part of the body, as it is a significant cause of the liver problem, as well as predisposes consumers to hypertension and stroke, among others.
He said: “Herbal concoction has been shown to cause kidney diseases through many forms like chronic and acute tubulointerstitial nephritis (swelling in between the kidney tubules). It has been shown to cause acute kidney injury, hypertension, and capillary nephrons and also exposes consumers to uroepithelial tumors (cancers of the genital urinary trucks.)
“The chemical agents inside these concoctions have not been isolated and evaluated. So, it is impossible for one to know the agent contained in them, their chemical reactions, what it works for, the extent it works, and the side effects. So, there are key issues there that are missing. We don’t know the dose as well.
“Every medication is a chemical. The difference between an herbal concoction and orthodox medicine is that we already know the composition and side effects of various approved medications. But the composition of an herbal mixture is unknown. It is a bit more complicated than people can see.”
Meanwhile, Naija News discovered that there is a new trend in the preparation of these traditional herbal medicines, as sellers have learned to add antibiotics and other Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) to the herbal mixtures for more effective results.
Confirming the development, one herbal mixtures seller at the Isolo Market in Lagos told our reporter that some of her colleagues in the industry add antibiotics and other orthodox medicines to herbs for better results.
When our reporter, who posed as a customer who wanted to patronize some herbal mixture for treating toilet infection, approached her, she said combining the antibiotics and the herbal medicine is very effective; however, she seldom does it for her customers until it’s requested for specially.
