The medical benefits of Fasting(Ramadan)!!!!!!!!

Ramadan is a period of fasting, reflection, devotion, generosity and sacrifice observed by Muslims around the world. While major holidays of other faiths have largely become commercialized events, Ramadan retains its intense spiritual meaning.

The word "Ramadan" comes from the Arabic root word for "parched thirst" and "sun-baked ground." It is expressive of the hunger and thirst felt by those who spend the month in fasting. As opposed to other holidays, when people often indulge, Ramadan is by nature a time of sacrifice,,,,,,,,,

Most Muslims do not fast because of medical benefits but because it has been ordained to them in the Quran. The medical benefits of fasting are as a result of fasting.

Fasting in general has been used in medicine for medical reasons including weight management, for rest of the digestive tract and for lowering lipids. There are many adverse effects of total fasting as well as so-called crash diets. Islamic fasting is different from such diet plans because in Ramadan fasting, there is no malnutrition or inadequate calorie intake. The caloric intake of Muslims during Ramadan is at or slightly below the national requirement guidelines. In addition, the fasting in Ramadan is voluntarily taken and is not a prescribed imposition from the physician.,

Ramadan is a month of self-regulation and self-training, with the hope that this training will last beyond the end of Ramadan. If the lessons learned during Ramadan, whether in terms of dietary intake or righteousness, are carried on after Ramadan, it is beneficial for one’s entire life. Moreover, the type of food taken during Ramadan does not have any selective criteria of crash diets such as those which are protein only or fruit only type diets. Everything that is permissible is taken in moderate quantities.

The only difference between Ramadan and total fasting is the timing of the food; during Ramadan, we basically miss lunch and take an early breakfast and do not eat until dusk. Abstinence from water during this period is not bad at all and in fact, it causes concentration of all fluids within the body, producing slight dehydration. The body has its own water conservation mechanism; in fact, it has been shown that slight dehydration and water conservation, at least in plant life, improve their longevity.

The physiological effect of fasting includes lower of blood sugar, lowering of cholesterol and lowering of the systolic blood pressure. In fact, Ramadan fasting would be an ideal recommendation for treatment of mild to moderate, stable, non-insulin diabetes, obesity and essential hypertension. In 1994 the first International Congress on "Health and Ramadan," held in Casablanca, entered 50 research papers from all over the world, from Muslim and non-Muslim researchers who have done extensive studies on the medical ethics of fasting. While improvement in many medical conditions was noted; however, in no way did fasting worsen any patients’ health or baseline medical condition. On the other hand, patients who are suffering from severe diseases, whether diabetes or coronary artery disease, kidney stones, etc., are exempt from fasting and should not try to fast.

There are psychological effects of fasting as well. There is a peace and tranquility for those who fast during the month of Ramadan. Personal hostility is at a minimum, and the crime rate decreases. ... This psychological improvement could be related to better stabilization of blood glucose during fasting as hypoglycemia after eating, aggravates behavior changes. ... Similarly, recitation of the Quran not only produces a tranquility of heart and mind, but improves the memory.

[2:185] Ramadan is the month during which the Quran was revealed, providing guidance for the people, clear teachings, and the statute book. Those of you who witness this month shall fast therein. Those who are ill or traveling may substitute the same number of other days. GOD wishes for you convenience, not hardship, that you may fulfill your obligations, and to glorify GOD for guiding you, and to express your appreciation.

A silent killer!!!!!!!!(Cancer, A malignant Growth)

Cancer is the general name for a group of more than 100 diseases. Although there are many kinds of cancer, all cancers start because abnormal cells grow out of control. Untreated cancers can cause serious illness and death.

This is the 'golden age' of cancer research; 50 years of painstaking scientific detective work has finally paid off.

Normal body cells grow, divide, and die in an orderly fashion. During the early years of a person’s life, normal cells divide faster to allow the person to grow. After the person becomes an adult, most cells divide only to replace worn-out or dying cells or to repair injuries.

Cancer starts when cells in a part of the body start to grow out of control. Cancer cell growth is different from normal cell growth. Instead of dying, cancer cells continue to grow and form new, abnormal cells. Cancer cells can also invade (grow into) other tissues, something that normal cells cannot do. Growing out of control and invading other tissues are what makes a cell a cancer cell.

Cells become cancer cells because of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) damage. DNA is in every cell and it directs all the cell’s actions. In a normal cell, when DNA gets damaged the cell either repairs the damage or the cell dies. In cancer cells, the damaged DNA is not repaired, and the cell doesn’t die like it should. Instead, the cell goes on making new cells that the body doesn’t need. These new cells all have the same abnormal DNA as the first cell does.

Cancer cells often travel to other parts of the body where they begin to grow and form new tumors. This happens when the cancer cells get into the body’s bloodstream or lymph vessels. Over time, the tumors replace normal tissue. The process of cancer spreading is called metastasis.

There are  screening tests that can be done for some types of cancers so they can be found as early as possible.

How you were created!!!! (Qur’an and Modern science)

Human is the most ingenious creation of the word. Creation of the man involves many complicated steps. The Quranic account of creation is in line with modern scientific thought about the development of the universe and life on earth. Muslims acknowledge that life developed over a long period of time, but see Allah's power behind it all. Do they not see how Allah begins the Creation, then repeats it? That is easy for Allah (to do) (Al-'Ankaboot, 29: 19). 

Allah almighty says in Quran about embryonic development that : It is He Who created you, fashioned you perfectly, and made you with the right proportions (straightened you up, to walk in an upright position).

The Quran did not stop at that, but has described many intricate details regarding the topic of this article and that is the creation of man, human reproduction in man.

Human reproduction, as science tells us, happens in many different and unique stages. Did not the Quran mention this?:-

" God created you in stages " (71:4)"(God) creates you inside the bodies of your mothers, in stages, one after another" (39:6)
The starting point in human reproduction is sexual intercourse. During this act, the male sex organ releases a small quantity of semen into the cervix of the vagina. It has been shown that this semen contains 350,000,000 spermatozoa in one single ejaculation. The spermatozoa is the plural for the word spermatozoon and this is the actual fertilising cell. This is the male fertilising agent which is also called sperm but the spermatozoon is scientifically more accurate as it is the fertilising cell. Modern Biology has shown that only one spermatozoon out of the 350,000,000 spermatozoa is all that is needed for fertilisation to occur with the female egg, the ovule. Let us see what the Qur'an says:-

" God created man from a sperm " (16:4)

and in another verse:-

" Was (man) not a sperm which has been poured out?. " (75:37)
The semen, or spermatic liquid, which is ejaculated contains more than just spermatozoa. This liquid is formed by secretions from many glands. They are a) the testicles, b) the seminal vesicles, c) the prostate glands and d) the glands annexed to the urinary tract. All these secretions mix and mingle to form the spermatic liquid. Qur'an mentioned this 1400 years ago:-

" Verily, We created man from a small quantity of mingled liquids " (76:2)

After the ejaculation of the semen into the cervix of the vagina, the sperm travels to the Fallopian tube and fertilisation will occur there with the ovule.
Once the ovule has been fertilised, it descends into the womb, or the uterus, via the Fallopian tube and it implants itself there by clinging to the wall of the uterus. This is referred to in the Qur'an in the following verses:-

" We have created you from...something which cling " (22:5)" We have created the sperm into something which clings " (23:14)
" Was (man) not a sperm which has been poured out. After that he was something which clings, then (God) fashioned him in due proportion " (75:37-38)

The Qur'an calls the fertilised egg "something which clings" because it clings to the wall of the uterus as mentioned earlier.
It is important to note that the implantation of the fertilised egg has to take place inside the womb for pregnancy to occur. If the implantation takes place somewhere else instead of the womb, e.g. in the Fallopian tube, then pregnancy will not take place. The Qur'an tells us the place where the fertilised egg implants itself and the fact that it has to take place there as science tells us now:-

" We cause whom We will to rest in the womb for an appointed term" (22:5)

After the fertilised egg has been implanted in the womb, it begins to evolve into the embryo. The Qur'an describes this evolution by breaking it down into different stages. The description of the Qur'an is brief but very accurate:-

" We have fashioned the thing which clings into a chewed lump of flesh and We fashioned the chewed lump of flesh into bones then We clothed the bones with intact flesh " (23:14)

As already mentioned, the "something which clings" is the fertilised egg which clings to the wall of the womb.
On the sixth week of development, the bone structure begins to develop inside the embryo or the "chewed lump of flesh" as the Qur'an calls it. This is called the mesenchyma. Remember what the Qur'an says:-

"...We fashioned the chewed lump of flesh into bones..."

A week later, the seventh week, the muscles begin to cover the bones which were formed in the previous week:-

"...We clothed the bones with intact flesh..."

It is known that the embryo passes through a stage where some parts are in proportion and others out of proportion. Maybe this is what is meant by the Qur'an in the following verse:-

" We created you out of dust, then out of a sperm, then We fashioned you into something which clings into a chewed lump of flesh, partly formed and partly unformed" (22:5)

After four months have passed, the newly formed organs of the embryo, including the heart, begin to operate and the glands begin to secrete. The embryo becomes "alive". Imam Jaffar Al-Sadiq (A.S) said:-

" When the embryo reaches the fourth month, life has begun in it"

As the embryo develops inside the womb, three layers of protection surround it. These are the maternal anterior abdominal wall, the uterinal wall, and the amnio-chronic membrane. The Qur'an has a verse which may imply to this although the verse may also imply to the distinct embryonic stages. Future discoveries in embryology may be able to shed more light on this particular verse:-

" (God) creates you inside the bodies of your mothers, in stages, one after another, in THREE VEILS OF DARKNESS " (39:6)

Modern embryology has also shown that the reproductive glands also form during the embryonic stage. They are formed on the upper part of the posterior abdominal below the diaphragm on either side of the vertebral column. Let us go to the Qur'an and see what it says:-

" (Man) was fashioned from a liquid poured out, proceeding from between the vertebral column and the lower ribs " (86:6-7)

The embryo, through all these stages, receives it's food from it's mother via the umbilical chord. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), in a Hadith, said:-

" Connected by a chord from his bellybutton, and from this he feeds on the mother's food and drink, until the time for his birth has arrived "
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJakYmgtrDA]
so we see that modern scientific studies are inline with Islamic saying, source of thinking is just needed.