A Facebook post shared in Nigeria claims drinking a mix of herbs, spices and camel urine is an effective treatment for hepatitis B.
It lists “powders”, including sesame seed, black pepper, fennel seed, coriander and camel milk, which are to be combined with “honey to make a paste”.
This mixture is meant to be mixed with hot water, apple cider vinegar and “black seed oil” and drunk “30 minutes after meal”.
But more alarmingly, “one tumbler of camel urine” should also be drunk two hours before every meal, twice daily, for four months, “for the best results”.
Could this mixture of ingredients possibly treat hepatitis B?
Hepatitis B is a viral infection that attacks the liver and can cause both acute and chronic disease. It can be transmitted from mother to child during birth and delivery, as well as through blood or other body fluids, including sex with an infected partner or injection drug use.
Treatment depends on how long you’ve been infected, though according to the UK’s National Health Service, the “vast majority of people infected with hepatitis B in adulthood are able to fight off the virus and fully recover within one to three months”.
A vaccine is available for the disease but, according to the World Health Organization, while globally 43% of babies are vaccinated, “coverage in the WHO African Region is only 6%”.
Abraham Malu, professor of internal medicine at the University of Jos and a consultant physician to the Jos University Teaching Hospital, in central Nigeria, northeast of the capital Abuja, advised that the mixture promoted on Facebook should not be drunk.
“The mixture is hazardous. No one in the medical field would advise anyone to consume the mixture. We specialists often see patients who relied on mixtures like this and ended up having worse health challenges.”
Beleudanyo Fente, professor of gastrointestinal surgery at the faculty of clinical sciences at Niger Delta University in the south of the country, also told us the claim was false.
“I am a scientist; I have never heard of the claim. There is no scientific evidence to support the claim. It should, therefore, be disregarded. Visit a doctor if you have a health challenge.” – Motunrayo Joel
It lists “powders”, including sesame seed, black pepper, fennel seed, coriander and camel milk, which are to be combined with “honey to make a paste”.
This mixture is meant to be mixed with hot water, apple cider vinegar and “black seed oil” and drunk “30 minutes after meal”.
But more alarmingly, “one tumbler of camel urine” should also be drunk two hours before every meal, twice daily, for four months, “for the best results”.
Could this mixture of ingredients possibly treat hepatitis B?
Medical interventions for hepatitis B
Hepatitis B is a viral infection that attacks the liver and can cause both acute and chronic disease. It can be transmitted from mother to child during birth and delivery, as well as through blood or other body fluids, including sex with an infected partner or injection drug use.
Treatment depends on how long you’ve been infected, though according to the UK’s National Health Service, the “vast majority of people infected with hepatitis B in adulthood are able to fight off the virus and fully recover within one to three months”.
A vaccine is available for the disease but, according to the World Health Organization, while globally 43% of babies are vaccinated, “coverage in the WHO African Region is only 6%”.
Visit specialists
Abraham Malu, professor of internal medicine at the University of Jos and a consultant physician to the Jos University Teaching Hospital, in central Nigeria, northeast of the capital Abuja, advised that the mixture promoted on Facebook should not be drunk.
“The mixture is hazardous. No one in the medical field would advise anyone to consume the mixture. We specialists often see patients who relied on mixtures like this and ended up having worse health challenges.”
Beleudanyo Fente, professor of gastrointestinal surgery at the faculty of clinical sciences at Niger Delta University in the south of the country, also told us the claim was false.
“I am a scientist; I have never heard of the claim. There is no scientific evidence to support the claim. It should, therefore, be disregarded. Visit a doctor if you have a health challenge.” – Motunrayo Joel
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