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.
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