Ulcer Patients Who Take Ginger Are Looking For Trouble — Doctor Warns

The Chairman Technical management Committee, Association for the Advancement of Family Planning, Dr. Ejike Orji has cautioned that those who have ulcers and still take garlic as a measure to boost their immune system against COVID-19 are ‘looking for trouble’.

He said there is no scientific proof that garlic or ginger boosts the immune system against COVID-19, adding that intake of garlic exacerbates ulcers.

Dr. Orji who is also the Focal Point for civil society organizations on family planning in Nigeria called on Nigerians to instead take a lot of vitamin C, including oranges to boost their immune system and make their body environment acidic for the virus to multiply wider.

He handed this advice on Saturday in a chat with ABN TV.

He attributed the growing rate of self-medication in Nigeria to ignorance and poverty even as the novel coronavirus ravages.

According to the medical expert, when people do not have resources to consult medical doctors, they resort to self-medication. He further added that another cause for worry is those who have resources to consult medical professionals but still heavily engage in self-help.

“Self-meditation is a very dangerous thing and I will give you a typical example. If you go to see a doctor a complaint of any illness, the doctor will review and talk to you, find out about your past medical report and discover if there are drugs you are sensitive or react to.

“By the time he or she finishes talking to you, even by ordinarily talking to you, they might get that you have a problem with your kidney,” he said.

Dr. Orji who earlier on Saturday featured in the Radio Nigeria’s phone-in programme, Radio Link said a patient with a kidney problem is not supposed to take the same amount of drug milligrams with someone with a healthy kidney.

ALSO READ: COVID-19: Self-Medication Extremely Dangerous, Medical Professional Warns

“Because your kidney is not functioning properly since it’s not taking the waste product as quickly as it can, or the lever breaking those things down as quickly as it can, for a drug you are supposed to take 500mg twice per day, the doctor will now decide to give you 250mg twice per day, that is a fifty percent reduction.

“If the doctor does not do that, it will become an overdose even though it’s a normal those ordinarily. When this happens, it will cause further damage on the kidney and cause more problems for the patient. This is one thing self-medication does” he said.

He further stated that those who engage in self-medication tend to spend a lot of resources treating the wrong ailment in the system than they ought to have spent if they had consulted a medical expert for assistance.

Citing the incident of how his intervention saved a patient who had walked into a patent medicine store and was dispensed drugs that have tendency to worsen a stomach ailment she complained about, Dr Orji said such incident is a recurrent decimal across Nigeria.

He further warned against the taking of various sorts of herbal concoctions in the name of boosting their immunity against coronavirus.

While warning that there is no scientific proof that ginger, garlic or other herbal mixtures boost immunity against COVID-19, he revealed that viruses do not have cure but fought by the body system till they eventually die.

“All you need to do is when someone has a viral disease, to give a supportive treatment” he added.