TheNewsGuru

Tag: Herbal Medicine

  • How my manhood stopped working after taking herbal concoctions – Borno man

    How my manhood stopped working after taking herbal concoctions – Borno man

    A man from Borno State, only identified as Isa has narrated how his manhood stopped functioning after he took some herbal concoctions prepared for him.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Isa narrated this in his testimony, which sparked laughter, during the Sunday service of TB Joshua Ministries in Ikotun, Lagos State.

    In his bid to impress himself, Isa resorted to herbal concoctions meant to increase the length and girth of his male member.

    According to the Borno man, he had been disappointed by his performance while having intimacy with a widowed mother of two.

    He disclosed that a friend then took him to the herbalist who gave him the preparations. However, instead of improving, Isa’s condition worsened and his manhood stopped responding altogether.

    “I couldn’t bear to live without my manhood – not even with all the money in the world,” said Isa during his testimony on Sunday, 15 January 2023 – a week after receiving prayer.

    In his hilarious testimony, Isa said he no longer needed the herbal preparations that had been meant to help him.

    He advised the youth to take all their problems to God, instead of man.

  • Return to herbal medicine – By Hope Eghagha

    Return to herbal medicine – By Hope Eghagha

    By Hope O’Rukevbe Eghagha

    We need to work on our local herbs. There are too many herbs and roots in our bushes wasting away. Our ancestors crudely used them. There were no labs. There were no lab scientists. Yet they knew the herbs to cure malaria. To improve fertility. They knew how to put the ‘womb in place’ through massaging. To treat bone fracture. To free the bowels through extreme bowel movement. They knew how to treat fainting spells. To control epilepsy. Migraine. They knew how to boost blood levels. They embalmed the dead. Some were trial and error methods which evolved into something permanent. Yet, this knowledge has been seriously denigrated, wasted sort of. It is further complicated by the refusal of those who have the knowledge to share it. In the past, such knowledge ran in families, passed on from father to son through practice. Why have we allowed our traditional thoughts and healing processes to lie fallow?

    These thoughts came to my mind as I read the headlines about alligator pepper and COVID 19 treatment as championed by Afe Babalola University. I don’t have the details. But the fact that some peer-reviewed processes had suggested that alligator pepper could counteract the virus got me thinking. What have our medical schools and our pharmacologists done with herbs which are traditionally believed to have medicinal properties? I have doctor friends who poohpooh the idea of herbs for treatment of medical conditions. They usually fault the traditional herbalists for not being scientific. For example, they ask: what quantity of herbs should one ingest to complete treatment? What is the makeup of that concoction that is administered to control epileptic fits?

    For me, our science community should be interrogating the herbal treatment practice by asking some questions. They should ask: what is the link between eating cassava yam and control of prostate enlargement? How can we establish that onions taken in high concentration can help prostate issues? How do the ‘bone setters’ sometimes treat extremely bad cases which orthodox medicine had condemned to amputation? What are the medicinal properties of bitter leaf or bitter kola or scent leaf (efirin in Yoruba)? What is the link between steaming in guava leaves, pawpaw leaves and efirin boiled in hot water and curing malaria or feverish conditions? What do traditional birth attenders do that ease birth? What skills do they have that can reverse breech babies just before birth?

    A nation which thinks scientifically, and which have self-confidence would have its medical scientists collaborate with the local herbs’ men and code their herbal mixtures after studying the properties in a laboratory. We love everything foreign. We condemn local creations. Colonial impositions have not helped matters. That encounter ensured that everything African was rendered inferior. Our dressing, our traditions, our cultural affirmations, even our languages were reduced in worth by claiming that Europeans came to civilize us. In school we were punished for speaking vernacular. It did not matter that we could comprehend some complex processes if they were explained in our local languages. Sadly, sixty years after independence we have not fully understood where and how the rain began to beat us.

    There are some nations that have made good with their herbs by codifying them and ensuring that the properties are known and documented. In some cases, their limitations are specified. This is what the Chinese have done with their teas. There are Chinese shops in London selling Chinese teas to control hypertension or caplets for cholesterol reduction. There are Chinese experts promoting their herbs in Nigeria, in America and the United Kingdom. What started as local brews have been globalized, fully registered in other jurisdictions. There are outlets in Lagos where Chinese medicine is applied for local health challenges.

    I once had a football accident as a boy in Sapele Delta State that bruised my right thumb badly. The shot fired at me as goalkeeper was too much for my young hands. The pain was killing. It radiated from the thumb up to my arm. It was the days of codeine and APC as painkillers which were readily administered. I only got temporary relief. Then my dad returned from work. He opted to take me to an Ijaw man who treated fractures and bone related problems. When we arrived in his place, he was having dinner. He went on eating his meal, inviting us to join. After his meal, he sat calmly and asked what the problem was. I explained as much as I could while being ravaged by the pain. He asked me to lie down. I did. He was so calm that if I had my way, I would have urged him to speed up the process. He went for my elbow. I told him that the pain was in my thumb and wrist respectively. He calmly asked me to shut up. He placed his thumb with some pressure on the inside of my arm and started tracing, moving slowly. At a point, there was a tingle and the pain vanished as if I had simply imagined that it had been there. He asked me to call again if the pain returned. I never went back. The pain was gone forever. I will never forget that experience. It opened my eyes to the skills of our Ijaw brothers to bone treatment!

    Some hospitals in Lagos State now accommodate traditional birth attenders in childbirth processes. This is good. But the nation should move into the field of herbs. What can we do with our herbs and make them more reliable? If we have herbal mixtures that can cure pile or haemorrhoids why don’t we commission our medical people to investigate and incorporate them into treating the condition in orthodox hospitals? It is my humble view that the rich vegetation which we have in Nigeria could contain treatment for cancer and other serious diseases which are yet unexplored. Research and development are key to developing our local treatment forms. The government through the Ministries of Health should create an atmosphere to make this possible. I expect universities to lead the drive instead of struggling to publish outlandish essays in international journals to enhance their chances for grants and fellowships which bear no relationship with the problems which control our people.

    The current world order which makes the COVID-19 vaccines scarce in Nigeria and Africa ought to make us return to our local herbs by improving them and verifying their efficacy in treating ailments that plague our people.

  • Why you should not take herbal concoctions after 14 days of preparation – NAFDAC

    Why you should not take herbal concoctions after 14 days of preparation – NAFDAC

    Liquid herbal concoctions should not be consumed more than two weeks after preparation, NAFDAC warned in Lagos on Monday.

    This, it said was for safety reasons.

    Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, its Director General, gave the advice in a statement issued to commemorate the World Herbal Medicine Day which holds annually on Aug. 31.

    Adeyeye advised Nigerians to use herbal medicines with caution to prevent avoidable deaths and complications.

    According to her, for safety reasons, no liquid herbal formulation should be ingested after days of preparation and such medicines should always be kept refrigerated.

    “After 14 days, if it is liquid, it may start to develop bacteria that can make people sick.

    “The general public should use herbal medicines with care because you don’t know the quantity that you are supposed to take.

    “The fact that it is natural doesn’t mean it is not toxic,’’ she stressed.

    She explained that toxicity was not about the volume consumed, but that something could be in micro quantity and could kill.

    “Just because you prepared the concoction in your house doesn’t mean you can drink it like water. It may be dangerous,’’ she cautioned.

    Adeyeye noted that the problem associated with herbal medicines was that many people did not understand that it should be scientifically driven.

    “If you prepare herbal medicine in liquid form you don’t know how stable the medicine will be in water. If it is not stable and it is degrading to another thing, it may hurt.

    “Those who engage in hawking herbal preparations on the streets under the scorching sun, the heat generated by the sun may have a way of causing decomposition of the active ingredients in the medicines being sold.

    “This may pose significant health risks to those buying and consuming these preparations.

    “That’s why herbal medicines in Nigeria have to be handled with care. Some people take herbal medicines like vaccines.

    “Herbal medicines are derived from plants mostly, sometimes from animals in few cases while vaccines are from human or animal cells that have been programmed to elicit immunologic effects in the body.’’ She added

    Adeyeye also advised against simultaneous use of both herbal and conventional medicines by members of the public.

    “If someone is using herbal medicine and a conventional medicine simultaneously, there may be a problem.

    “Let’s say that a medicine is supposed to lower blood pressure or lower sugar level for diabetes and a person takes conventional medicine and the sugar level is lowered and he then takes herbal remedy, that person may go into a shock.

    “This means that the level of sugar in the blood is too low because the two are now working synergistically.

    “Sometimes herbal medicines may actually reduce the effectiveness of the conventional medicine. That’s why studies need to be done because there is drug-herbal medicine interaction that may cause a lot of harm.

    “Whoever is taking herbal medicine should talk to his or her pharmacist and medical doctor for professional advice,’’ she stated.

    Adeyeye, however, called for collaboration between herbal medicine practitioners and medical researchers to achieve rapid development of the herbal medicine industry in the country.

    The D-G noted that NAFDAC in March 2019 set up herbal medicine product committee before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out to advance research in herbal medicines.

    According to her, the goal of setting up the committee is to make sure that the herbalist and the researcher are collaborating.

    “So, whatever the herbalist knows from ancestral history that does not have research to back it up, collaboration with researchers will enable that herbal medicine to be advanced to be listed by NAFDAC if it’s deemed safe.

    “Right now, there is no single herbal medicine that has gone through full clinical trial the way clinical trial is supposed to be done.

    “There could be herbal medicines that have been used to treat a symptom of COVID-19 or whatever, but it has not been published in which case, it is not an official clinical trial,’’ she said.

  • Why we didn’t approve herbal medicine for COVID-19 treatment- NAFDAC

    Why we didn’t approve herbal medicine for COVID-19 treatment- NAFDAC

    The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has given reasons why it has yet to approve any herbal medicine for the treatment of COVID-19.

    This is contained in a statement signed by the agency resident Media Consultant, Mr Olusayo Akintola, and issued to newsmen on Sunday, in Abuja.

    The statement quoted Prof Moji Adeyeye, NAFDAC Director- General, as saying that “no single drug has been found yet to cure COVID -19”.

    Adeyeye also warned Nigerians against excessive consumption of onions and garlic with a view to curing COVID-19, saying, ‘’If you eat too much your breath will be smelling and nobody will want to stay by you.”

    She said that medicinal products available now could only help ease symptoms and up the odds of survival.

    She warned Nigerian researchers and other herbal medicine practitioners to desist from parading unverified medicine for the virus.

    She said that any product without NAFDAC approval for the cure of COVID-19 is null and void, adding that such an act was a violation of the national regulatory authorities and breach of protocols.

    She admitted that onions or garlic or any of the natural fruits that we take have antioxidant and nutrients that can help us feel better, adding that people might have been using it and they get better.

    “If it is not documented, it cannot be recognised by NAFDAC for COVID – 19. They work on our cells to keep people healthier, but not to cure COVID – 19. They help our body to function better. There is no cure for COVID -19 yet.

    She added that they may boost the immunity and the person may not be easily susceptible to infection, adding that ‘’even with that, you still have to protect yourself.

    “If you eat garlic and onion and you don’t use face mask you will get COVID -19. If you are in a bad environment; If you don’t wash your hands, you will get COVID -19.

    “Everything has to be put together. University of Jos said that there was an herbal medicine, whether it is tea or whatever, that can cure COVID-19, they linked it with treatment of COVID -19, they did the packaging.

    ‘’We did a letter to warn them that they cannot claim something unless it has gone through our listing process. They were trying to sell it to their staff. That is violation of our own regulatory policies.

    “Nobody should say that this one can cure this or that without going through NAFDAC listing process, the research into herbal medicine by the academia is normal.

    ‘’It is now for the academia to also recognise the national regulatory authority established to safeguard the safety of the Nigerian populace, by ensuring that the product that they are working on has to go through NAFDAC,” Adeyeye said.

    According to her, there have been one or two cases where the University of Jos product was being encouraged to be used by people without going through NAFDAC.

    She said that the university was supposed to go through the national regulatory authority and pave the way for NAFDAC to declare it safe for consumption.

    The DG insisted that her agency must approve the clinical trial protocol, stressing that ‘’If they don’t do that and go ahead to market and sell their product, such act would be a violation of regulatory procedures.

    According to her, some people might have been using it and they got better, but without being approved scientifically and documented, we may not be able to guarantee its safety for human consumption.

    She recalled that NAFDAC set up an herbal medicine product committee in March 2019 before the pandemic broke out, to advance research in herbal medicine.

    Adeyeye said that the goal for such idea was to make sure that the herbalist and the researcher were collaborating, so that whatever the herbalist knows from ancestral history that the research will back it up.

    She explained further that collaboration with researcher would enable such herbal medicine to be advanced and to be listed by NAFDAC, if found safe for consumption.

    According to her, during the pandemic there were lots of assertions that there were herbal medicines, that could be used to treat symptoms of COVID -19, pointing out that there was no single medicine that has been identified yet.

    “But there are herbal medicines that could alleviate symptoms of COVID -19. However, NAFDAC has not granted registration of approval for any medicine for that.

    “NAFDAC approves such medicines for listing, it means that it’s been tested and was deemed safe to use. NAFDAC cannot say herbal medicine can treat COVID -19, until clinical trial is done.

    “Right now, there is no single herbal medicine that has gone through full clinical trial the way clinical trial is supposed to be done,” she said.

    According to her, to do official clinical trial, you must write a protocol, you must pass it through the National Health Research Ethical Committee (NHREC), and you must pass it through NAFDAC.”

    She said that the agency has not given any pass mark as regards COVID-19 herbal medicine, but that the agency has approved some herbal medicines that they claim can alleviate some of the symptoms of COVID -19.

    She said that some of the approved herbal medicine which they claim can alleviate COVID-19 symptoms only work as immune boosters.

    Adeyeye pointed out that such herbal medicine may prevent one from getting the disease, adding that, as far as NAFDAC was concerned, it has not approved any medicine to treat COVID -19.

    “We have approved medicines that they said can alleviate symptoms and relieve people of some symptoms of COVID – 19, when the product is listed then clinical trial may start.

    “It takes a lot of money to do clinical trial. University of Jos has been given approval to commence clinical trial of their products which is yet to commence.

    The DG further disclosed that many herbal products have been submitted for federal government grants, because most of the herbal practitioners lack the required wherewithal to do clinical trial.

    She said that many of these herbal products were being subjected to review by different agencies of government in the country.

    “In terms of going through clinical trial and official protocols, none has come through yet.”

    According to her, such herbal products can be used during the clinical trial to investigate whether it could be effective for COVID -19.