Nowadays there are alternatives available to most medicines, so if you find that the one you have been prescribed has something doubtful in it, just ask if there's an alternative. When I told my non-Muslim GP that I didn't like taking medicines with gelatine, she put an alert on her computer screen, so everytime I went back to her surgery, an alert would come up, reminding her of this.
alcohol:
http://www.sunnipath.com/resources/Questions/qa00002583.aspx
gelatine:
http://www.sunnipath.com/resources/Questions/qa00000452.aspx
Monday, April 26, 2004
Friday, April 23, 2004
Before you even dream of having children, please follow this guide.
How to Know If You Are Ready to Have Children
I. Mess Test:
Smear peanut butter on the sofa and curtains. Now rub your hands in the wet flowerbed and rub on the walls.
Cover the stains with crayons. Place a fish stick behind the couch and leave it there all summer.
II. Toy Test:
Obtain a 55-gallon box of Legos. (If Legos are not available, you may substitute roofing tacks or broken bottles.) Have a friend spread them all over the house. Put on a blindfold. Try to walk to the bathroom or kitchen. Do not scream (this could wake a child at night).
III. Grocery Store Test:
Borrow one or two small animals (goats are best) and take them with you as you shop at the grocery store. Always keep them in sight and pay for anything they eat or damage.
IV. Dressing Test:
Obtain one large, extremely annoyed, live octopus. Stuff into a very small oil-covered plastic sandwich bag, making sure that all arms stay inside.
V. Feeding Test:
Obtain a large plastic milk jug. Fill halfway with water. Suspend from the ceiling with a stout cord. Start the jug swinging. Try to insert spoonfuls of soggy cereal ( such as Fruit Loops or Cheerios) into the mouth of the jug while pretending to be an airplane. Now dump the contents of the jug on the floor.
VI. Night Test:
Prepare by obtaining a small cloth bag and filling it with 8 - 12 pounds of sand. Soak it thoroughly with water. At 8 p.m., begin to waltz and hum with the bag until 9 p.m. Lay down your bag and set your alarm for 10 p.m. Get up, pick up your bag, and sing every song you have ever heard. Make up about a dozen more and sing these, too, until 4 a.m. Set alarm for 5 a.m. Get up and make breakfast like this for 5 years. Look cheerful.
VII. Physical Test
A. Women: Obtain a large beanbag chair and attach it to the front of your belly. Leave it there for 9 months, then remove 10 of the beans.
B. Men: Go to the nearest drugstore. Set your wallet on the counter. Ask the clerk to help himself. Now proceed to the nearest food store. Go to the head office and arrange for your paycheck to be directly deposited to the store. Purchase a newspaper. Go home and read it quietly for the last time.
VIII. Final Assignment:
Find a couple who already have a small child. Lecture them on how they can improve their discipline, patience, tolerance, toilet training, and child's table manners. Suggest many ways they can improve. Emphasise to them that they should never allow their children to run wild this experience. It will be the last time you will have all the answers.
How to Know If You Are Ready to Have Children
I. Mess Test:
Smear peanut butter on the sofa and curtains. Now rub your hands in the wet flowerbed and rub on the walls.
Cover the stains with crayons. Place a fish stick behind the couch and leave it there all summer.
II. Toy Test:
Obtain a 55-gallon box of Legos. (If Legos are not available, you may substitute roofing tacks or broken bottles.) Have a friend spread them all over the house. Put on a blindfold. Try to walk to the bathroom or kitchen. Do not scream (this could wake a child at night).
III. Grocery Store Test:
Borrow one or two small animals (goats are best) and take them with you as you shop at the grocery store. Always keep them in sight and pay for anything they eat or damage.
IV. Dressing Test:
Obtain one large, extremely annoyed, live octopus. Stuff into a very small oil-covered plastic sandwich bag, making sure that all arms stay inside.
V. Feeding Test:
Obtain a large plastic milk jug. Fill halfway with water. Suspend from the ceiling with a stout cord. Start the jug swinging. Try to insert spoonfuls of soggy cereal ( such as Fruit Loops or Cheerios) into the mouth of the jug while pretending to be an airplane. Now dump the contents of the jug on the floor.
VI. Night Test:
Prepare by obtaining a small cloth bag and filling it with 8 - 12 pounds of sand. Soak it thoroughly with water. At 8 p.m., begin to waltz and hum with the bag until 9 p.m. Lay down your bag and set your alarm for 10 p.m. Get up, pick up your bag, and sing every song you have ever heard. Make up about a dozen more and sing these, too, until 4 a.m. Set alarm for 5 a.m. Get up and make breakfast like this for 5 years. Look cheerful.
VII. Physical Test
A. Women: Obtain a large beanbag chair and attach it to the front of your belly. Leave it there for 9 months, then remove 10 of the beans.
B. Men: Go to the nearest drugstore. Set your wallet on the counter. Ask the clerk to help himself. Now proceed to the nearest food store. Go to the head office and arrange for your paycheck to be directly deposited to the store. Purchase a newspaper. Go home and read it quietly for the last time.
VIII. Final Assignment:
Find a couple who already have a small child. Lecture them on how they can improve their discipline, patience, tolerance, toilet training, and child's table manners. Suggest many ways they can improve. Emphasise to them that they should never allow their children to run wild this experience. It will be the last time you will have all the answers.
Thursday, April 22, 2004
Granny Guards the Genes
It's difficult not to see the nur on elderly muslima faces after they've done years and years of ibada. Often they are a source of great strength to their families. But how is it that they live so long? "Human women tend to live well past their reproductive years..."
http://www.discover.com/web-exclusives/granny-guards-genes0415/
It's difficult not to see the nur on elderly muslima faces after they've done years and years of ibada. Often they are a source of great strength to their families. But how is it that they live so long? "Human women tend to live well past their reproductive years..."
http://www.discover.com/web-exclusives/granny-guards-genes0415/
Wednesday, April 21, 2004
Complementary and Alternative Therapies
"My auntie was under the doctor for six months, but it was only when she started on homeopathy that she got better".
Many of our friends and patients are interested in this area. Some of them have tried Western Medicine, some haven't. Umm Ilhaam is of the opinion that although some of these therapies may work (found by experimenting on close family members!), for reasons known or not, certainly not all of them do. At the end of the day though, we feel its good to see some evidence. That's where Bandolier comes in.
Have you ever thought about why bogus remedies seem to work? If so, then here's something to think about.
"#Many diseases are self-limiting
The old saying is that a cold will go away in a week or in seven days if you treat it. Determining whether an intervention has made a difference is therefore difficult. Unless rigorous study methods are applied, an apparent benefit cannot be ascribed to the intervention or the natural course of the disease.
#Many diseases are cyclical
Allergies, multiple sclerosis, arthritis and gastrointestinal problems like irritable bowel syndrome all have their ups and downs. Sufferers may seek therapy on a down, so that when an up comes that has to be due to the therapy, doesn't it. Again, only rigorous study design combats this.
#Placebo effect
Both the above contribute to what is called a placebo effect. It can be seen as the natural course of things. For instance, some people need no pain relief after surgery, making a pre-emptive intervention which claims to reduce pain after surgery a sure win. There will always be some people publicly to declaim its value. Natural "placebo" rates depend on what the problem is and what the benefit is. There will always be some people who benefit without an intervention.
#Bets are "hedged"
"My auntie was under the doctor for six months, but it was only when she started on homeopathy that she got better". The fact that the poor infantry slaved away for six months is forgotten in the glamour of magic.
#Original diagnosis may be wrong
Bandolier has highlighted the difficulty of diagnosis. If the diagnosis is wrong, then miraculous cures are less miraculous.
#Mood improvement or cure
Alternative healers often have much more time to spend with their patient than a harassed GP loaded down with kilograms of guidelines and tight prescribing budgets. Is it any wonder that alternative healers can make patients feel better? That mood change is sometimes seen as the cure.
#Psychological investment in alternatives
Alternative healing can be as simple as some herbal remedy bought from a shop. Sometimes it can involve huge amounts of time, massive involvement of the family, and an intense psychological investment in believing that something (anything) will work. It is not surprising, then, that many people find some redeeming value in the treatment."
http://www.jr2.ox.ac.uk/bandolier/booth/booths/altmed.html
Many of our friends and patients are interested in this area. Some of them have tried Western Medicine, some haven't. Umm Ilhaam is of the opinion that although some of these therapies may work (found by experimenting on close family members!), for reasons known or not, certainly not all of them do. At the end of the day though, we feel its good to see some evidence. That's where Bandolier comes in.
Have you ever thought about why bogus remedies seem to work? If so, then here's something to think about.
"#Many diseases are self-limiting
The old saying is that a cold will go away in a week or in seven days if you treat it. Determining whether an intervention has made a difference is therefore difficult. Unless rigorous study methods are applied, an apparent benefit cannot be ascribed to the intervention or the natural course of the disease.
#Many diseases are cyclical
Allergies, multiple sclerosis, arthritis and gastrointestinal problems like irritable bowel syndrome all have their ups and downs. Sufferers may seek therapy on a down, so that when an up comes that has to be due to the therapy, doesn't it. Again, only rigorous study design combats this.
#Placebo effect
Both the above contribute to what is called a placebo effect. It can be seen as the natural course of things. For instance, some people need no pain relief after surgery, making a pre-emptive intervention which claims to reduce pain after surgery a sure win. There will always be some people publicly to declaim its value. Natural "placebo" rates depend on what the problem is and what the benefit is. There will always be some people who benefit without an intervention.
#Bets are "hedged"
"My auntie was under the doctor for six months, but it was only when she started on homeopathy that she got better". The fact that the poor infantry slaved away for six months is forgotten in the glamour of magic.
#Original diagnosis may be wrong
Bandolier has highlighted the difficulty of diagnosis. If the diagnosis is wrong, then miraculous cures are less miraculous.
#Mood improvement or cure
Alternative healers often have much more time to spend with their patient than a harassed GP loaded down with kilograms of guidelines and tight prescribing budgets. Is it any wonder that alternative healers can make patients feel better? That mood change is sometimes seen as the cure.
#Psychological investment in alternatives
Alternative healing can be as simple as some herbal remedy bought from a shop. Sometimes it can involve huge amounts of time, massive involvement of the family, and an intense psychological investment in believing that something (anything) will work. It is not surprising, then, that many people find some redeeming value in the treatment."
http://www.jr2.ox.ac.uk/bandolier/booth/booths/altmed.html
Monday, April 19, 2004
Common Misconceptions
"At least ten misconceptions can lead parents to question the wisdom of immunising their children.
Misconception #1: Because of better hygiene and sanitation, diseases had already begun to disappear before vaccines were introduced.
Misconception #2: The majority of people who get the disease have been immunised.
Misconception #3: There are hot lots of vaccine that have been associated with more adverse events and deaths than others. Parents should find the numbers of these lots and not allow their children to receive vaccines from them.
Misconception #4: Vaccines cause many harmful side effects, and even death -- and may cause long-term effects we don't even know about.
Misconception #5: DTP vaccine causes sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
Misconception #6: Vaccine-preventable diseases have been virtually eliminated from the United States, so there is no need for my child to be vaccinated.
Misconception #7: Giving a child more than one vaccine at a time increases the risk of harmful side effects and can overload the immune system.
Misconception #8: There is no good reason to immunise against chickenpox (varicella) because it is a harmless disease.
Misconception #9: Vaccines cause autism.
Misconception #10: Hepatitis B vaccine causes chronic health problems, including multiple sclerosis.
Misconception #11: Thimerosal causes autism: Chelation treatment is bogus."
The following site (although it could be slightly more up to date) gives the answers to these common misconceptions:
http://www.quackwatch.org/03HealthPromotion/immu/immu00.html
"At least ten misconceptions can lead parents to question the wisdom of immunising their children.
Misconception #1: Because of better hygiene and sanitation, diseases had already begun to disappear before vaccines were introduced.
Misconception #2: The majority of people who get the disease have been immunised.
Misconception #3: There are hot lots of vaccine that have been associated with more adverse events and deaths than others. Parents should find the numbers of these lots and not allow their children to receive vaccines from them.
Misconception #4: Vaccines cause many harmful side effects, and even death -- and may cause long-term effects we don't even know about.
Misconception #5: DTP vaccine causes sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
Misconception #6: Vaccine-preventable diseases have been virtually eliminated from the United States, so there is no need for my child to be vaccinated.
Misconception #7: Giving a child more than one vaccine at a time increases the risk of harmful side effects and can overload the immune system.
Misconception #8: There is no good reason to immunise against chickenpox (varicella) because it is a harmless disease.
Misconception #9: Vaccines cause autism.
Misconception #10: Hepatitis B vaccine causes chronic health problems, including multiple sclerosis.
Misconception #11: Thimerosal causes autism: Chelation treatment is bogus."
The following site (although it could be slightly more up to date) gives the answers to these common misconceptions:
http://www.quackwatch.org/03HealthPromotion/immu/immu00.html
Friday, April 16, 2004
"Now, it behoves him for whom death is his destruction, the earth his bed, the worm his intimate, Munkar and Nakir his companions, the tomb his abode and the belly of the earth his resting place, the Arising his tryst and Heaven or Hell his destiny, that he should harbour no thought or recollection but of death. No preparedness or plan should he have save for it, and his every expectation, concern, energy, waiting and anticipation should be for its sake alone."
Imam al-Ghazali, The Remembrance of Death and the Afterlife.
The way one of my friends sees things, even though we may not have a terminal illness, we still could die at any time, so, in effect, we may as well think that we do.
Living with Cancer
http://www.eternal-optimist.ca/living/archives/cat_my_story.html
Die Well, Father
http://www.freewebs.com/qalam2/father_ssoekanto.htm
My Mother Has Cancer But Its the Time of My Life
http://www.freewebs.com/qalam2/mother_ssoekanto.htm
Imam al-Ghazali, The Remembrance of Death and the Afterlife.
The way one of my friends sees things, even though we may not have a terminal illness, we still could die at any time, so, in effect, we may as well think that we do.
Living with Cancer
http://www.eternal-optimist.ca/living/archives/cat_my_story.html
Die Well, Father
http://www.freewebs.com/qalam2/father_ssoekanto.htm
My Mother Has Cancer But Its the Time of My Life
http://www.freewebs.com/qalam2/mother_ssoekanto.htm
Thursday, April 15, 2004
Intimate Partner Violence
This is an issue close to Umm Ilhaam’s heart at the moment, as she didn’t pick up that it was happening to a close friend for two years. It’s the new term for domestic violence. It has been described as a major public health and human rights issue. Women are overwhelmingly the victims, but it affects entire families, including children, making the statistics even more shocking.
In the latest issue of Q-News, http://www.q-news.com/thisissue.htm in an excellent article on “Making Our Homes Soulful”, Sidi Nazim Baksh reports that domestic violence occurs in 60% of marriages, and is, not unexpectedly, the most underreported crime. From American studies, in 90% of cases involving battered women, children were present. Last year in South Africa, the number of children and families exposed to this violence increased by 80%. Scary huh?
We will soon have reliable estimates of its international prevalence, determinants, and consequences when the World Health Organization reports on its multi-country study on women's health and domestic violence against women. www.who.int/gender/violence/multicountry
The attitudes of boys and young men towards girls and women are formed and impressioned by the acts they see in their own homes, and so the next generation carries in the vicious cycle without knowing any different. As we don’t like to talk about it, I feel our silence is often acceptance.
“The Muslim community has shamefully tolerated abuse for a long time. How much longer will Muslim families (and therefore the Muslim community) be weakened by abuse? How much longer will abusers be allowed to run free and unpunished in the community? How much more abuse will Muslim women have to endure before the community decides that enough is enough?”
http://www.jannah.org/sisters/wifeabuse.html
As Sidi Nazim says,
“Our homes should be places where our children and our women are safe. Husbands and wives should make a pact with each other and with their children that voices should not be raised in the home. Let us commit to make our homes gentle, pleasant, clean and tidy places, infused with beauty.”
Another good site dealing with this issue:
http://www.themodernreligion.com/index2.html
This is an issue close to Umm Ilhaam’s heart at the moment, as she didn’t pick up that it was happening to a close friend for two years. It’s the new term for domestic violence. It has been described as a major public health and human rights issue. Women are overwhelmingly the victims, but it affects entire families, including children, making the statistics even more shocking.
In the latest issue of Q-News, http://www.q-news.com/thisissue.htm in an excellent article on “Making Our Homes Soulful”, Sidi Nazim Baksh reports that domestic violence occurs in 60% of marriages, and is, not unexpectedly, the most underreported crime. From American studies, in 90% of cases involving battered women, children were present. Last year in South Africa, the number of children and families exposed to this violence increased by 80%. Scary huh?
We will soon have reliable estimates of its international prevalence, determinants, and consequences when the World Health Organization reports on its multi-country study on women's health and domestic violence against women. www.who.int/gender/violence/multicountry
The attitudes of boys and young men towards girls and women are formed and impressioned by the acts they see in their own homes, and so the next generation carries in the vicious cycle without knowing any different. As we don’t like to talk about it, I feel our silence is often acceptance.
“The Muslim community has shamefully tolerated abuse for a long time. How much longer will Muslim families (and therefore the Muslim community) be weakened by abuse? How much longer will abusers be allowed to run free and unpunished in the community? How much more abuse will Muslim women have to endure before the community decides that enough is enough?”
http://www.jannah.org/sisters/wifeabuse.html
As Sidi Nazim says,
“Our homes should be places where our children and our women are safe. Husbands and wives should make a pact with each other and with their children that voices should not be raised in the home. Let us commit to make our homes gentle, pleasant, clean and tidy places, infused with beauty.”
Another good site dealing with this issue:
http://www.themodernreligion.com/index2.html
World TB day was three weeks ago. You probably know at least one person who's had it. Its no surprise to find that nine million people developed tuberculosis last year, and two million of them died. We have the tools and the resources to determine the future of the TB epidemic.
Still, someone dies of TB every 15 seconds. Almost everyone could have, should have been cured.
Eight million people develop active TB every year.
Each one can infect between 10 and 15 people in one year just by breathing.
The best way to prevent TB is to treat and cure people who have it.
Drug-resistant TB is caused by inconsistent or partial treatment, when patients do not take all their drugs regularly for the required period because they start to feel better, doctors and health workers prescribe the wrong treatment regimens or the drug supply is unreliable. A particularly dangerous form of drug-resistant TB is multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB), which is defined as the disease due to TB bacilli resistant to at least isoniazid and rifampicin, the two most powerful anti-TB drugs. Rates of MDR-TB are high in some countries, especially in the former Soviet Union, and threaten TB control efforts.
http://www.stoptb.org
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/who104/en/
Still, someone dies of TB every 15 seconds. Almost everyone could have, should have been cured.
Eight million people develop active TB every year.
Each one can infect between 10 and 15 people in one year just by breathing.
The best way to prevent TB is to treat and cure people who have it.
Drug-resistant TB is caused by inconsistent or partial treatment, when patients do not take all their drugs regularly for the required period because they start to feel better, doctors and health workers prescribe the wrong treatment regimens or the drug supply is unreliable. A particularly dangerous form of drug-resistant TB is multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB), which is defined as the disease due to TB bacilli resistant to at least isoniazid and rifampicin, the two most powerful anti-TB drugs. Rates of MDR-TB are high in some countries, especially in the former Soviet Union, and threaten TB control efforts.
http://www.stoptb.org
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/who104/en/
Friday, April 02, 2004
Some depressing thoughts from South Asia that I read about:
In Pakistan, one in three people are anxious or depressed
http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/328/7443/0-b
Even worse,
"South Asian countries are among the countries whose hygiene levels are "disastrous...
In India alone, 519 500 children die every year from poor hygiene; the equivalent figures in neighbouring Pakistan and in Afghanistan are 135 000 and 48 000 respectively...
Frequent illnesses, especially diarrhoea, undermine children's growth by taking away their appetite, inhibiting the absorption of nutrients, burning up calories in fever, and fighting infection, says the council. As a consequence, the percentage of children not growing normally is as high as 47% in India, 38% in Pakistan, 47% in Bangladesh, 47% in Nepal, 48% in Afghanistan, and 33% in Sri Lanka, says the report."
from Every Breath You Take
http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/328/7443/0-b
In Pakistan, one in three people are anxious or depressed
http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/328/7443/0-b
Even worse,
"South Asian countries are among the countries whose hygiene levels are "disastrous...
In India alone, 519 500 children die every year from poor hygiene; the equivalent figures in neighbouring Pakistan and in Afghanistan are 135 000 and 48 000 respectively...
Frequent illnesses, especially diarrhoea, undermine children's growth by taking away their appetite, inhibiting the absorption of nutrients, burning up calories in fever, and fighting infection, says the council. As a consequence, the percentage of children not growing normally is as high as 47% in India, 38% in Pakistan, 47% in Bangladesh, 47% in Nepal, 48% in Afghanistan, and 33% in Sri Lanka, says the report."
from Every Breath You Take
http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/328/7443/0-b
Thursday, April 01, 2004
"The pleasure of corrections"
We just want to say somewhere at the beginning of this web log that anything you find that is useful is from Allah Most Kind, and the mistakes are ours, so we hope you don't hold us to task for them, or even worse, sue us. LOL.
We wholly acknowledge and accept that mistakes occur more frequently in the class we belong to: mothers, wives, daughters, doctors and insaan. So, as we are a disastrous combination of trying to do all of these roles at once, please accept our apologies in advance.
Especially as day by day, our age-related cerebral degeneration is impaired by post-natal memory loss.
According to this week's British Medical Journal, "great publications...are full of corrections". LOL. We will try to point out our mistakes and so hopefully we won't have to hire a "corrections editor"....
http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/328/7442/0
We just want to say somewhere at the beginning of this web log that anything you find that is useful is from Allah Most Kind, and the mistakes are ours, so we hope you don't hold us to task for them, or even worse, sue us. LOL.
We wholly acknowledge and accept that mistakes occur more frequently in the class we belong to: mothers, wives, daughters, doctors and insaan. So, as we are a disastrous combination of trying to do all of these roles at once, please accept our apologies in advance.
Especially as day by day, our age-related cerebral degeneration is impaired by post-natal memory loss.
According to this week's British Medical Journal, "great publications...are full of corrections". LOL. We will try to point out our mistakes and so hopefully we won't have to hire a "corrections editor"....
http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/328/7442/0
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