Say No To Herbal Concoctions!

He laid on the bed, his entire body so swollen that you would be pardoned to believe he's a live character about to feature as ''Michelin'' in a tire advert. A close look at him however showed that all wasn't well with him- he was breathless, gasping for air and in so much distress that he was screaming for help. Let's call him Terfa.

Terfa's problem wasn't just the physical pain and torture he was experiencing. He had just been diagnosed of a kidney problem which required that he underwent dialysis three times weekly to stay alive. Dialysis is a procedure by which ''poisons'' that ought to have been removed by the kidneys
are removed from the blood using a machine, because the kidneys have failed. Terfa had to pay Twenty Thousand Naira (N20,000) for each session of dialysis, amounting to N60,000 per week for dialysis alone. Bear in mind that this didn't include the cost of drugs and a battery of tests that he needed to cater for too.

Terfa was stranded. Where on earth was he to raise about N280,000 monthly to offset his monthly health bills? He couldn't even work anymore due to his frail health. He couldn't eat the general family meal because his ill health demanded a special diet. As if these were not enough, he was the bread winner of his entire family; how were they to survive without his support? How about his dream of becoming the first university graduate from his family? How was he to become the mechanical engineer he had always dreamed of becoming?

As Terfa laid on his sick bed, pondering on his plethora of challenges, he wished he hadn't traveled this road; he wished he hadn't brought this on himself; he wished he hadn't developed the seemingly cheap but dangerous habit of taking herbal concoction each time he felt ill. Sadly, he died! Terfa left this world without achieving his life's ambitions! He was just twenty eight!

 Despite how cheap and innocuous herbal medications seem, they are fraught with dangers. First and foremost, globally, about two-thirds of herbal medications haven't undergone empirical studies to determine the active ingredient(s) alleged to confer health benefits. Thus herbal preparations are a cacophony of the ''good'', the bad and ugly with many proven to contain poisonous substances like arsenic, mercury and lead. These poison the system and destroy the kidneys, liver and even the heart..

In same vein, where the active compound is known, the therapeutic dose as well as the those at which the substance becomes toxic are generally not known. So when you take herbal medications, you are likely taken an overdose or even an under-dose. With concoctions, the picture is even grimmer.

Expectedly, studies have shown that most herbal preparations are a scam. Put simply, they don't work! Most of the perceived improvements in health after using them can be attributed to the "placebo effect", where a patient's belief confers recovery on him/her. Another source of perceived improvement is the euphoric effect of alcohol, which many herbal concoctions contain; this on its own also predisposes users to a myriad of problems caused by alcohol.

As sordid as Terfa's story sounds, his condition isn't rare. Unfortunately, many of such victims don't live long to tell their stories. Consequently, people like you and I need to raise up and be their voices. We can start by resolving never to take herbal concoctions anymore and then by spreading the gospel of "Saying No To Herbal Concoctions". You can spread this gospel by educating your friends and relatives as well as by sharing this blog on your social media pages.

Remember the message: "SAY NO TO HERBAL CONCOCTIONS!"