Wonderful kola also known as (buchholzia) seeds is quickly gaining popularity as it seems to be a cure to almost all ailments. Its look stands out from the normal kola as it looks like a root and not a fruit like the others. B. Coricea is a forest tree with large, glossy leaves and conspicuous cream-white flowers in racemes at the end of the branches.
The plant is easily recognized by the compound pinnate leaves and the long narrow angular fruits containing large, usually aligned seeds. In Nigeria, B Coricea is a perennial plant that grows as a tree. It belongs to the family capparaceae and its local names include “Uwuro” (Yoruba), “esson bossi” (Central Africa), “Uke” (ibo) the plant has various common names including “Ovu (Bini), and Aponmu (Akure). The plant parts commonly eaten are the seeds which are either cooked or eaten raw.
Wonderful kola as it is commonly called is known worldwide as memory nut because it enhances memory. It acts as a cleanser of the blood, facilitates learning absolutely and strengthens the nervous system, and is also effective in the treatment of menstrual problems. It is a brain food that promotes memory, it’s also useful in the treatment of hypertension and also prevents premature aging; it has also been proved in Africa that wonderful kola has the ability to stop migraine headache on the forehead for about 10 minutes.
Can Wonderful Kola Abort Pregnancy?
Plants and herbs like wonderful kola have been used to induce abortions and there is little awareness and understanding of their toxic effects. A descriptive retrospective survey conducted on the calls received by the Montevideo Poison Centre concerning the ingestion of herbal infusions with abortive intent reported multiple organ system failures in some patients who had ingested certain herbs with abortion intent. The results of this report are not conclusive, but it appears that the ingestion of plants to induce abortion involves the risk of severe morbidity and mortality.
Abortions are safe when they are carried out with a method that is recommended by WHO and that is appropriate to the pregnancy duration, and when the person carrying out the abortion has the necessary skills. Such abortions can be done using tablets (medical abortion) or a simple outpatient procedure.
An abortion is unsafe when it is carried out either by a person lacking the necessary skills or in an environment that does not conform to minimal medical standards or both. Unsafe abortion is a neglected public health problem contributing to 13% of maternal death worldwide. In Africa, 99% of abortions are unsafe resulting in one maternal death per 150 cases. The people, skills, and medical standards considered safe in the provision of induced abortions are different for medical abortion (which is performed with drugs alone), and surgical abortion (which is performed with a manual or electric aspirator). Skills and medical standards required for safe abortion also vary depending upon the duration of the pregnancy and evolving scientific advances.
- They are less safe when done using outdated methods like sharp curettage even if the provider is trained or if women using tablets do not have access to proper information or to a trained person if they need help.
- Abortions are dangerous or least safe when they involve ingestion of caustic substances or untrained persons use dangerous methods such as insertion of foreign bodies, or use of traditional concoctions.
Women, including adolescents, with unwanted pregnancies, often resort to unsafe abortion when they cannot access safe abortion. Studies indicate that lack of knowledge on safe abortion services, poor socio-economic conditions, cultural and religious beliefs, a stigma of unplanned pregnancy, a desire to bear children only after marriage, attempts to avoid parental/guardian disappointment and resentment, and a desire to pursue education are listed as situations that contributed to unsafe abortion practices.
In addition, wonderful kola can also negatively affect male fertility, a 2012 study on the subject matter suggests that the plant extract may have anti-fertility effects in males because of the negative consequence of wonderful kola on sperm cells. SEE: How To Use Wonderful Kola For Fertility and Infections
