Seeds do not cause appendicitis - Prof. Agyeman Badu Akosa dispels misconception

Ghanaian Pathologist, Professor Agyeman Badu Akosa, has dispelled myth surrounding eating seeds.

He said seeds do not cause appendicitis and has therefore urged Ghanaians to eat more seeds in order to obtain their nutritional values.

He said the commonest cause of appendix is fickle materials that sometimes get stuck at the tip of the appendix, but not seeds.

“The appendix has a muscular wall. The muscular wall is continuously contracting and relaxing; so the seed comes in and is propelled out. There is no danger” he explained.

He said Appendicitis comes with pain in the right lower abdomen, fever and vomiting, adding that, even though it is usually found in children and adolescents, in recent times, the disease is also seen in adults.

Prof. Akosa made these comments on the #StayAlive segment of HSTV’s Morning Show,#HealthyMorning, talking to Cecil Lee Longdon about diseases that can develop in the Gastrointestinal tract.

Touching on other Gastrointestinal Tract Diseases, he said, Gum disease is also very common in Ghana, but unfortunately it is not treated well and therefore leads to gingivitis; an infection that also causes kidney problems when unchecked.

He urged the public to practice proper dental hygiene and visit the dentist regularly for mouth cleaning.

On how to protect the gullet, Prof. Akosa said people should avoid eating too much and going to bed immediately after and also avoid excessive intake of alcohol and fatty foods.

He said going to bed immediately after eating can cause acid to blow into the gullet, “the gullet was not made to receive acid, so as soon as acid starts to blow up into the gullet, you will develop chest pains and burning sensations and it corrodes the lining of the gullet” he explained.

Touching on Peptic Ulcer disease, Prof. Akosa said, it is caused when there is breakdown in the mucus barrier, which is supposed to protect the stomach from direct acid contact.

The breakdown, he explained, is mostly caused by an infection called helicobacter pylori. This infection develops when meat or foods are frozen and defrosted continuously.

He said to prevent this infection from developing people must bag meat or food in quantities that can be consumed at a go, to avoid cases of continuous freezing and defrosting.

He said Irritable Bowel Disease, is another Gastrointestinal Tract Disease that usually occur in people in their twenties to fifties; it comes with abdominal pains and bloating diarrhea and constipation. Even though cause is not known, it is attributed to side effects of mediation and genetics.