Ramadan fasting has a healing
effect on peptic ulcers as it curbs smoking which is recognised as a
precipitating factor for the peptic ulcer. The whole gastro-intestinal
system takes good rest for the first time in the whole year
I feel pity for the stomach. I
really feel pity for the stomach, intestines and infact the whole
gastro-intestinal system. And this is so because the whole year, we
never let this system take rest.
Apart from the three main meals,
every few minutes, we pour something in our stomach, be it snacks,
drinks, fruits or other eatables. None of us ever thinks that the food
which we had already sent in before is being digested by the stomach and
right when it has reached halfway, we dump some more into it only to
disrupt the digestive work previously completed. This of course makes
the food stay a longer time in the stomach which may result in
dyspepsia, gastritis, irritable bowel syndrome etc.
In contrast, Ramadan is the only
period in which our gastro-intestinal system takes good rest as the
Muslims observe fasting for the whole month. Digestion is not just the
name of churning movements of the stomach and the absorption by the
intestines, but it is a huge integrated system involving the nervous
system (eg. vagus nerve) as well as hormone secreting glands.
So the whole gastro-intestinal
system takes good rest for the first time in the whole year. As
digestion begins in the mouth where the salivary glands secrete
excessive saliva which carries hormones to act upon the food, the burden
on the salivary glands and teeth is reduced in the month of Ramadan.
The oesophagus takes rest during fasting as there is no food to require
its propelling movements which push the food to the stomach. Similarly,
the stomach and the intestines also take good rest as after completing
the digestion and absorption of food consumed at Sehri time, they have
nothing to do till Iftar time. Even glands like pancreas and gall
bladder which secrete hormones also reduce their secretions as there is
no food to demand their hormones. Hence, there is substantial reduction
in the gastrointestinal hormones like gastric juice, gastrain, gastric
inhibitory peptide (GIP), motilin, vascoactive intestinal peptide
(VIP),neurotension, enteroglucagon, neuropeptide Y, gallium etc. Lastly,
the colon and the liver are also at ease during fasting. In short,
Ramadan lifts the heavy burden and strain which we have put on our
gastrointestinal system and gives it what can said to be a refreshing
annual vacation of 30 days. Now coming to the diagnostic possibilities
of Ramadan fasting, a good number of patients who consult physicians
with abdominal pain, suffer from peptic ulcers. The peptic ulcer can be
gastric or the duodenal type. The occurence of abdominal pain in both
gastric and duodenal ulcers is different in relation to the food intake.
Duodenal ulcer pain, though variable usually occurs when the stomach is
empty and the gastric ulcer creates pain after the food intake.
In normal days, the
differentiation of the two entities is difficult to make as people eat
frequently, but in Ramadan, an individual undergoes two stages. One
during the fasting when his stomach is empty and the other after evening
meal when the stomach is full. If the patient complains of abdominal
pain while fasting, it will point to the possibility of duodenal ulcer
and if the pain occurs after Iftar, then gastric ulcer will be the
suspected diagnosis. The peptic ulcer pain is variable and it may not
occur in some patients. Similarly, in most of the duodenal ulcer cases,
as soon as mild pain starts, the patient eats something due to which the
pain disappears and the disease remains undiagnosed. This undiagnosed
ulcer may later surface with perforation of the ulcer and haematemesis
(vomiting of blood) which has a high mortality. In Ramadan, while
fasting, the duodenal ulcer pain is more likely to surface and as there
is no provision to relieve the pain with food, the patient may be forced
to consult a physician who with the help of endoscopy can easily clinch
the diagnosis. While examining the abdomen of a patient who is already
fasting, a physician can easily palpate the tenderness as well as feel
the oedema around the peptic ulcer region.
Ramadan fasting has a healing
effect on peptic ulcers as it curbs smoking which is recognised as a
precipitating factor for the peptic ulcer. It also has beneficial
effects on inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome,
dyspepsia and gastritis.
Last, but not the least, imagine
a person who has fasted for more or less 14-15 hours and is now ready
to break his fast. His taste buds have taken good rest, so at Iftar, the
food is going to taste more pleasant and enjoyable than ever before.
This is yet another bounty of Ramadan. Allah's Messenger Prophet
Muhammad (saws) says: "There are two pleasures for the fasting person,
one at the time of breaking his fast and the other at the time when he
will meet his Lord, then he will be pleased because of his fasting.
No comments:
Post a Comment