Nigerian Paediatrician, Ayobola Adebowale, has explained why Palm Oil no longer serves as antidote to poisons.
A Paediatrician is a medical practitioner who specializes in children and their diseases.
Ayobola Adebowale is standing against the use of an ancient purging medication – Palm Oil, as first aid for poisoning, especially for children.
According to her, “Palmoil if aspirated CAN KILL your child.”
Aspiration means you’re breathing foreign objects into your airways. Usually, it’s food, saliva, or stomach contents when you swallow, vomit, or experience heartburn. This is common in older adults, infants, and people who have trouble swallowing or controlling their tongue. Medically it is known as Pulmonary Aspiration – a “condition in which food, liquids, saliva or vomit is breathed into the airways.
In plain sentence –
Aspiration is when something you swallow “goes down the wrong way” and enters your airway or lungs. It can also happen when something goes back into your throat from your stomach. But your airway isn’t completely blocked, unlike with choking. People who have a hard time swallowing are more likely to aspirate.
Symptoms include coughing, difficulty breathing and in some cases choking.
Pulmonary aspiration may lead to pneumonia or death by suffocation.
Treatments include making sure the airway is open, close observation and, in case of infection, antibiotics.
Unfortunately, Palm Oil, which comes in viscous semi-solid state ends up making it difficult to open the airways, in this case and thats where we believe Adebowale is picking her argument from.
She says,
2 children almost died yesterday again!
They drank Kerosine and their neighbours thought to help by force feeding them Palmoil!
They came in to the emergency gasping! One of them is still unconscious.
We have said it, I have personally said it over and Over again!
Palm oil is NOT an Antidote to poisoning!
Palmoil if aspirated CAN KILL your child.
I have seen it happen; I have had to tell parents their children died NOT from the poison but from PALMOIL.
I have had to nurse children in the ICU because of palm oil!
SOLUTION
If your child takes poison
Do’s
1. Check the name of the poison and estimate the quantity
2. Rush the child to a hospital and give them the information about the poison taken
3. Do whatever they tell you to do
Dont’s
- Do NOT Induce vomiting (don’t put your hands in the throat)
- Do NOT give anything to eat or drink
- Do NOT give palm oil
Conclusion
In a lot of cases, the poison will have an antidote, which will be administered, some supportive care will be given to keep the baby alive!
However once Palm oil enters the airway, it seals it up and does not allow air move in or out.
PLEASE I AM BEGGING, DO NOT GIVE PALMOIL AS AN ANTIDOTE.
The little one is still fighting for her life; deeply unconscious!
We shouldn’t be having these cases in 2021!
