A clinician at the Kiambu Level 5 Hospital has advised residents to avoid excessive use of aspirin as it could lead to unexplained weight loss and change in appetite.
Speaking from her office on Friday, the hospital clinical officer, Jane Njoroge, said that many people were tempted to use aspirin when they lack sleep which she said was wrong. She added that when people use the drug more often, it increases the chances of getting ulcers, as it had not been recommended by a doctor.
Njoroge urged residents to always seek the doctor’s advice before using aspirin or any other drug as some of them could interfere with treatment later after one’s body was addicted to them. She further cautioned that when one start feeling some pain like a burn in the abdominal area, they should seek doctor’s assistance from a nearby hospital.
The CO said that those can be signs of stomach ulcers which should be addressed early enough. Njoroge advised that when a patients’ pain persists to an extent of a person waking up at night, the patient should not develop a habit of taking painkillers continuously .she said that frequent use of the drugs to ease the pain, but in the long run, making the body develop other complications like perforation.
“Early treatment of ulcers is the surest way of ensuring the patient does not develop scars in the body tissues which makes it difficult for food to pass through the digestive tract. She said there was need to mobilise other doctors so that “we can start creating awareness among the Kiambu residents .I believe if the people know the signs and symptoms of ulcers, they will seek early medication,” said Njoroge.
The clinical officer cited other causes of ulcers as smoking and drinking too much alcohol, noting that a bacteria that she termed as helicobacter pylori can cause stomach ulcers.
Speaking on the same issue, Mary Waithera, a Kiambu resident said that she has lived with ulcers for fifteen years, adding that it was the ignorance and lack of awareness that made her parents not to take her for earlier treatment.
“My condition could not have been as it is now had I gone for earlier treatment,” said Waithera.
She said that doctors should take upon themselves to inform the general public of the earlier symptoms of diseases.