Why lime juice with ogogoro mixture is effective for deworming children —Experts

MORE than just a Vitamin C rich fruit, lemon juice, for generations, has been a home remedy for deworming. Now, in a new study, researchers found that a lime juice mixed with ogogoro is also an alternative worm expeller for children with roundworms.

In the study, the researchers found that a blend of lime juice and ogogoro (local gin) caused a significant reduction in the number of eggs of roundworms by 70 percent in primary school children, with no resultant health implications.

They declared that given the medicinal potency of the mixture, it could be given for the treatment of roundworm infection, particularly in children between the age of seven and 12 years.

The research was in the journal, Current Practice in Medical Science.

For the study, 30 primary school children within the age range of seven and 12, whose stool samples had eggs of roundworm when inspected under the microscope were recruited for this study. It was carried out at Ikotun Egbe in Lagos State.

Also, another 30 primary school children within the same age range with no evidence of round worm in their stools served as control.

The children with eggs of roundworm in their stools, who were not on any deworming therapy before the commencement of the study, were asked to take 10 millilitres of the mixture (lime juice and local gin) daily for a period of five consecutive days.

The mixture was made by adding 4.0 litres of the filtered juice to 1.0 litre of ogogoro (local gin) and the content shaken thoroughly to ensure a homogenous mixture.

Their stools were again collected two weeks after the exercise and checked under the microscope to know if they still had eggs of roundworm. Blood samples were withdrawn for further tests from both primary school children in both the experimental and control groups.

The adverse reactions to the mixture were also assessed in the primary school children that took the mixture (lime juice and local gin).

Ogogoro is an alcoholic local gin that is distilled from the juice of raphia palm tree through local fermentation. This local gin contains 30 to 60 percent ethanol as its active ingredient and is presumably dangerous to human health when consumed in large quantities, leading to intoxication and causing damages to kidney and liver.

Helminths, or intestinal worms, are the most common infections worldwide and affect the poorest and most vulnerable populations. It is one of the commonest causes of infant and childhood death in developing countries, thus de-worming is strongly advocated for both children and adults.

Roundworms are the most common helminth infections in children, with symptoms such as abdominal pain, constipation, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, weight loss, fatigue and malnutrition. In addition, there may be signs such as convulsion, abdominal distension and seizures.

The major risk factors of worm infection are rural areas, low socioeconomic status, poor sanitation, non-availability of clean water, poor personal hygiene, lack of nail trimming, crowded living conditions, lack of education, lack of access to health care and inappropriate shelter.

Currently, worm infections occur almost exclusively among the poorest people of the world and so there are no market incentives for mining bioinformatic databases for developing worm expellers and vaccine discovery.

The researchers declared: “The administration of the mixture revealed that it was well tolerated in the primary school children as none of them showed adverse reactions such as gastrointestinal tract anorexia, abdominal cramps, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, dizziness and rash.

“This established finding may be suggestive that the administration of this mixture has no adverse inflammatory effects on human organs. This study has revealed the medicinal potency of lime juice and ogogoro (local gin) mixture on round worms with no resultant health implications.

“This mixture is recommended for the treatment of roundworm infection, particularly in children between the ages of seven and 12 years. Further study should be carried out to ascertain the medicinal potency of this mixture in the treatment of roundworms as related to dose and ages outside seven to 12 years.”

In a previous study, researchers in the Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry had said lemon leaf tea is just as effective a dewormer as its juice or albendazole, the standard drug for treating worm infestation. Albendazole causes paralysis and death of the worms.

The water extracts of lemon leaf produce paralysis as well as the death of Indian earthworm, confirming its potential benefit as a worm expeller. These earthworms have anatomical and physiological resemblance with the intestinal roundworm in human beings.

Another report, also in the Journal of Advanced Scientific Research, stated that the extracts of the leaves and peel of lemon exhibit better activity than standard compound albendazole. The effect was also dose-dependent.

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