Doctors and fasting
Posted on August 11th, 2012

By Dr. Mrs. Mareena Thaha Reffai Dehiwela.

We often hear non Muslim doctors advising patients of various diseases and even expecting mothers not to fast. It is understandable since the non Muslim doctors are not aware howƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  the Muslims fast. TheyƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  naturally think that the patient must be under terrible stress because of the fast. This idea is prevalent even among some Muslims since they have not givenƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  a thought to it there are those who .

But in reality ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ the fast is not stressful at all. On non fasting days all of us ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” Muslims or non Muslims eat and drink from around say 8 a.m. till about 8 p.m. ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…”a period of 12 hours. During Ramadan ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” or any other days that the Muslims fast ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…”we ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ are allowed to eat from about 6.30 p.m. till about 5 a.m. ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” i.e. almost the same number of hours ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” about 12 hours. The only difference is that we eat during daytime on normal days and in the night during fasting days.

ActuallyƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  the people tend to eat more during the fasting days and even richer food and drink more water for fear of feeling the thirst or hunger. And if the patient has to take medicine they usually take within 12 hours of waking time. And they can take the medicine from 6 p.m. till next day 6 a.m. ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” just the within same time interval.

Therefore most patients even with diabetes, hypertension, cholesterol etc. can continue to take the medicine and continue to fast with no bad effects whatsoever. Similarly even insulin injections can be taken during these times.

I am not saying all patients can continue to fast ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” 12 hour being without water intake can be harmful for say a dehydrated patient or a patient may need to take medicine every 4 hours right throughout 24 hours. However ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ most patients can fast with no untoward effects whatsoever.

Besides, reversing the eating times from day to night ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ like what happens at the fasting time hadƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  been proved by western and eastern medicine both, ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ to be very healthy ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ for the human beings.

I hope this will be considered by the Doctors when they advice the patients.

2 Responses to “Doctors and fasting”

  1. AnuD Says:

    Dr. Mareena:

    I suspect, that your colleagues etc., may have asked you that whether your fasting had affected your work performance. Even then, it is not fair to generalize it. Because fasting is common among Hindu Ascetics. Hindu Yogis practice total fasting very often. Fasting is recommended to a certain extent among buddhists. It is believed that if one could fast for a total of three days after that one would not feel hunger. Buddhist monks, unless they are not in good health etc., are supposed to live ONLY on two meals a day. Even those two meals are not recommended to make them sick because of over eating.

    On the other hand, the body has a certain circadian rhythm. As you obstruct that rhythm when you suddenly begin fasting that should affect your performance as body metabolism takes time to adjust to that.

  2. mjaya Says:

    “Besides, reversing the eating times from day to night like what happens at the fasting time had been proved by western and eastern medicine both, to be very healthy for the human beings.”
    – :D I wonder if this “Dr.” can produce a “reference” from a published source? I mean a valid publication not the 100% factually accurate facts of the super intelligent “Dr.” Zakir Naik.

    Well I can provide a few,
    http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle09.asp?xfile=data/theuae/2008/September/theuae_September167.xml&section=theuae
    https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/bitstream/1807/6924/1/jp06011.pdf

    Also check the citations of http://wikiislam.net/wiki/Adverse_Effects_of_Islamic_Fasting

    Anyway, its true that fasting has little effect on the Arab world, why – because they don’t work anyway!!

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