The pandemic has pushed people to look for methods to develop immunity and grandmother remedies involving various Indian spices like ginger and turmeric have come to the forefront.
But should we be wary of them? A recent development in a Bengaluru hospital may completely alter our perspective about these immunity-building home prescriptions.
Last Sunday, Dr. Raghuraj Hegde tweeted from his personal account revealing the unknown side-effects of immunity drinks that have been propagated as a measure to thwart coronavirus.
Yesterday my patient on the operating table bled buckets. He wasn’t on blood thinners-no explanations.
After surgery he told me he was taking a herbal concoction of Ginger, Garlic, Turmeric & Asafoetida thrice daily to prevent covid.
Need to change my Pre-op instructions.
— Dr. Raghuraj Hegde (@raghurajs_hegde) September 27, 2020
Dr. Raghuraj Hegde is an eye plastic surgeon at Manipal Hospital and has been working at the hospital for the past 2 years now. But the doctor was shocked when he noticed that during elective surgery, the patient was bleeding excessively for no specific reason. The patient had come for a simple elective surgery that usually lasts for 45 mins, but the surgery time went double or thrice than the usual time.
The doctor immediately checked if the patient was on any blood-thinners that could have easily caused such bleeding but there was no sign of the patient being administered any such medication. The pre-operation blood tests that were done three weeks earlier did not reveal anything either and the other mandated tests before surgery also came in with normal ranges.
Though it was not a life-threatening situation, it is not ideal for the patient and could affect the healing of the patient, Dr. Hegde told NewsKarnataka. He also said this could have been a fatal situation in other surgeries that are more complicated and lasted for longer periods.
The doctor was initially flummoxed by the bleeding. Then, post-surgery, the patient revealed that he was ‘taking a herbal concoction of ginger, garlic, turmeric, and asafoetida thrice daily to prevent him from contracting Covid-19’. “He was probably following WhatsApp forwards that suggested taking these home-remedies as preventive measures” quipped Dr. Hegde.
The ingredients of the immunity concoction that the patient was taking are a common part of the Indian household and given the much-publicized side effects of allopathy, people tend to prefer home remedies made from common ingredients, plants grown in their kitchen gardens, based on grandmothers’ inputs to bolster their immunity, treat minor infections, etc. but without knowing their dosages or side effects as there are inadequate scientific studies to support them.
But this sudden rise in the use of natural ingredients to build immunity stemmed from the fear of contracting Covid19 and after the Ministry of AYUSH promoted the intake of herbal tea/decoction (Kadha) made from Tulsi (Basil), Dalchini (Cinnamon), Kalimirch (Black pepper), Shunthi (Dry Ginger) and Munakka (Raisin) – once or twice a day.
The circular also promoted drinking Golden Milk—half a teaspoon of turmeric in 150ml of warm milk as part of the self-care ritual during COVID times.
Dr. Hedge mentioned that these are also a big part of the composition of Ayurvedic medicines and there are a lot of unverified places and quacks that claim to be ayurvedic pandits and they exploit gullible people with adulterated products and claim to cure diseases beyond Ayurveda’s limitations.
The doctor said that it would not be possible to say for sure that the ingredients were the sole cause for excessive bleeding, but the circumstantial evidence is leading towards that conclusion. Excessive intake of these ingredients—garlic is known to cause blood-thinning when consumed in excess amounts—and the absence of any other prior illnesses led Dr. Hegde to this conclusion.
He reminded us that at a root level, all these condiments are just a combination of multiple chemicals and intake in large quantities could turn them toxic for our bodies. For example, turmeric in large amounts can cause kidney and liver problems and eating a lot of carrots (1kg- 0.5 kg/daily) for vision can lead to yellowing of the eyes and the skin which is usually due to β-keratin deposition.
When asked if this was an isolated incident, the doctor replied: “This is not an unfamiliar scenario”. “ These condiments have no side-effects, they are a part of our everyday cooking but when you take it in large amounts over a short period, there can be consequences like this”. He advised moderation as the key factor to benefit from these condiments correctly.
He believes that doctors could be more vigilant about such cases by taking a better and detailed history of the patients including their consumption of natural ingredients as part of their pre-operation detailing.
While these ingredients are harmless when consumed in small amounts as prescribed by the Vaidyas backing these immunity-building medicines, an excessive amount could have serious consequences. It’s best to have a balanced intake of these ingredients, especially as we use a lot of them in our daily cooking.
