"Ramadan and Diabetes, a comprehensive reading of an important topic"
When we talk about diabetes, we are talking about a huge number and a problem that extends and affects the lives of millions of people, and when the blessed month of Ramadan comes, we have to review the statistics to find that more than 43 percent of type 1 diabetes fast !?
And 79 percent of type 2 diabetes also fast?
There are more than 148 million Muslims afflicted with diabetes of all kinds.
Therefore, there is a special type of dealing with such a disease and those numbers of people who want to practice their religious rituals. That is why we say that the patient's religious desire must be respected in all circumstances and circumstances. Also, the risks to life must be clarified for those who insist on fasting despite medical advice to stop fasting, and this suspension is not arbitrary Or my mood, or it moves with verbal spaces. Rather, we have to stress a basic medical rule that has been emphasized in jurisprudence and religiously from higher official bodies represented by the Egyptian House of Ifta, which is:
Correspondence to the continuation of fasting coincides with the rate at which the danger to human life occurs.
The doctor must acknowledge the sensitivity of the subject of fasting from the religious point of view, and the subject of fasting in Ramadan must be taken in a realistic and practical manner, that is, to provide medical advice compatible with the reality of the patient who desires religious fasting despite all his health conditions.
The rule is that any patient who intends to fast must deal with regulating sugar levels as a special individual case that differs from any other diabetic patient who wants to fast.
In the case of fasting, there are no fixed, specific protocols that work for each patient, but there are general rules and advice, and each case is considered within a specific protocol that is given separate arrangements for fasting.
Therefore, there is no treatment plan that works with every patient, and the Ramadan treatment protocol differs from one patient to another, and each patient has different influencing factors and a personal history with diabetes is different from the other patient, and there is a large percentage who choose to fast despite the medical advice not to fast !?
With the advent of the month of Ramadan, there is harmony in the role of the doctor, as well as official religious bodies and official figures that are moving as religious cases in society.
Fortunately, an official fatwa was issued by the Egyptian Dar Al Iftaa from the Mufti "Shawqi Ibrahim Allam", which is an official body that transcends countries and has an important moral position for Muslims, as an official fatwa was issued in 2016 in line with what was issued of approved medical advice regarding the fasting of a sick person. Drunkenness in Ramadan, which supports, supports and links the medical opinion with the jurisprudential approval of it, which creates a state of psychological reassurance for the patient and also makes the treating physician move in an atmosphere of supportive religious protection if you will. It is a fatwa that represents the harmony of the fatwa with the medical opinion.
On the medical level, the risk factors lie in three points:
The first is the low level of sugar.
The second is the high level of sugar.
The third is what is called medically b
Diabetic ketoacidosis
Diabetic ketoacidosis.
Fourth, the occurrence of dehydration and high levels of strokes.
These risks warrant a medical evaluation and the pursuit of medical advice before the start of Ramadan.
Regarding diabetes patients in Ramadan, for simplicity, they can be divided into three main groups based on the degree of risk and the issue of risk is measured and calculated by knowing the type of diabetes in which the first or second patient or pregnant diabetes has, and also knowing the types of drugs used and also the possibility of occurrence must be evaluated Cases of hypoglycemia in the patient and also the issue of other complications and diseases associated with diabetes, such as heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and lipids, must be known. The patient’s personal and social conditions must also be evaluated, and also the patient’s history and previous fasting conditions in past years must be reviewed. His medical history at the time.
Diabetics who fall into the high-risk category and should not fast are:
Those who have irregular sugar levels before Ramadan.
Pregnant women with permanent diabetes or pregnant diabetes.
Diabetics who suffer from kidney failure and need regular dialysis, as well as those with advanced stage kidney failure.
Diabetics with complications from arterial disease
Type 1 diabetics
Diabetics who use mixed insulin
Diabetics who use multiple insulin with every meal.
Diabetics who do heavy manual work, such as construction work, etc. ... etc.
Diabetics who have associated mental or psychological diseases and who use special medications.
These were, in general, not exclusively, those who are considered among the high-risk levels of fasting, and the rest of the levels can be considered within the medium risk and low risk, and these can fast on the condition that they see a diabetes doctor before, during and after the period of Ramadan religious fasting to arrange and change medications and change their levels and give them advice and important arrangements Also, the role of nutrition technicians is important in this field
This and other medical advice is driven by generalities, but the reality movement requires us to emphasize and repeat the saying that each patient is a separate case and a different way of dealing.
Dr. Adel Reda
Endocrinologist and diabetic doctor
Kuwaiti writer on Arab and Islamic affairs
