Date: 2021-02-09

Some medical experts at the University of Ilorin have cautioned women against frequent abortions as it will make them susceptible to a medical condition called galactorrhea.

Frequent abortions may cause excessive production of breast milk – Experts. Prof. Musa Yakubu, director, Central Research Laboratories, and a PhD student at the institution's Department of Biochemistry, Mrs Hassanat Fayemo gave the warning while speaking with newsmen on their research in Ilorin on Monday.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the experts carried out a research on "Anti-hyperprolactinemic Activity of Aqueous Extract of Uvaria Chamae Roots in Chlorpromazine-induced Hyperprolactinemic Female Wistar Rats".

Yakubu described galactorrhea as a situation whereby breast milk is secreted when a woman is neither pregnant nor breastfeeding.

He noted that the research had been published in the globally renowned Journal of Ethnopharmacology, saying that their findings revealed that the condition could occur at any point in the life of a person.

"The research also revealed that the situation, if left unchecked or untreated could culminate in infertility among other challenges, on the part of the victims.

"Apart from repeated abortions, the condition may also be precipitated by indiscriminate consumption of drugs, sex addiction, excessive smoking and uncontrolled stress among other prevalent socio-psychological inadequacies," he said.

According to him, the condition is prevalent among women, it is also possible and quite noticeable among men who indulge in one or most of the antisocial tendencies previously stated.

Also speaking, Fayemo said that she was propelled to embark on the research due to the side effects recorded in the administration and consumption of some drugs, which resulted in the condition among other reasons.

According to her, the condition is not actually a disease, but a symptom of one or more physiological disorders that can constitute a menace to the general well being of the sufferer.

Fayemo explained that ordinary lactation is brought about by the release of certain hormones in the body system when a woman is either pregnant or nursing a baby.

She added that its occurrence in anyone, when neither of the two occurs was a prediction to a physiological challenge as a result of excessive secretion of a hormone, prolactin.

Yakubu, however, revealed that research was presently ongoing to establish the efficacy of Uvaria chamae root, otherwise known as Finger root or Bush banana in English, Afuru-agu in Igbo and Oko aja or Eruju in Yoruba and Kaskaifi in Hausa to treat the symptoms associated with inappropriate secretion of breast milk.

He explained that the product derived from the roots of the plant had been effectively used on rats, saying that the results generated from the research was convincing enough to give assurances that it would work on man without any resultant side effects.

Yakubu, a former Head of the Department of Biochemistry, said that the team was collaborating with a South African institution to authenticate the universality of the locally obtained solution.

He said that as time progresses, the University of Ilorin would collaborate with a pharmaceutical company with a view to producing a drug from the roots of the plant that was local to many environments in Nigeria.

The experts advised researchers to give adequate consideration to the conduct of more researches on herbs with a view to discovering more solutions to human challenges.

According to them, antidotes obtained from natural plants are always without side effects, which sometimes precipitate other medical challenges.

They added that since most of the drugs in use are derived from plants, solutions to most medical problems are in plants and are only waiting to be tapped for the benefit of humanity.