|
|
  
Mahfouth A Bamashmus University of Science & Technology, Sana’a It is a globally recognized and a foremost part of dietary guidelines that on should eat a variety of food using principles of moderation and balance. This is particularly true during the Islamic month of Ramadan when Muslims fast from dawn to sunset. To be healthy, one must consume food from the major food groups: bread and cereal, milk and dairy product, meat and bean, vegetable and fruit. During the month long fast of Ramadan the metabolic rate of a fasting person slows down and other regulatory mechanisms start functioning. Body and dietary fat is efficiently utilized. Consuming food intake less than the total food intake during normal days is sufficient to maintain a person’s health. Intake of fruits after a meal is strongly suggested. A balanced diet improves blood cholesterol profile, reduces gastric acidity, prevents constipation and other digestive problems, and contributes to an active and healthy life style. Fasting during the Islamic month of Ramadan can be good for one’s health and personal development. Ramadan fasting is not just about disciplining the body to restrain from eating food and drinking water from predawn until sunset. The eyes, the ears, the tongue, and even the private parts are equally obligated to be restrained if a Muslim wants to gain the total rewards of fasting. Ramadan is also about restraining anger, doing good deeds, exercising personal discipline, and preparing oneself to serve as a good Muslim and be a good person during and after Ramadan. Ramadan fasting has spiritual, physical, psychological, and social benefits. However, manmade problems may occur, if fasting is not properly practiced. First of all, there is no need to consume excess food at iftar (the food eaten immediately after sunset to break fast), dinner or sahur (the light meal generally eaten about half an hour to one hour before dawn). The body has regulatory mechanisms that activate during fasting. There is efficient utilization of body fat. A diet that is less than a normal amount of food intake but balanced is sufficient enough to keep a person healthy and active during the month of Ramadan. Health problems can emerge as a result of excess food intake, foods that make the diet unbalanced, and insufficient sleep. Ultimately also, such a lifestyle contradicts the essential requirements and spirit of Ramadan. The body’s immediate need at the time of iftar is to get an easily available energy source in the form of glucose for every living cell, particularly the brain and nerve cells. Dates and juices are good sources of sugars. Dates and juice are sufficient to bring low blood glucose levels to normal levels. Juice and soup help maintain water and mineral balance in the body. An unbalanced diet and too many servings of sherbets and sweets with added sugar have been found to be unhealthy. During dinner consume foods from all the following food groups: Meat/Bean group; Bread/Cereal group; Milk group; Vegetable group and Fruits group. Fruits and mixed nuts may be eaten as a snack after dinner or before sleep. It is recommended that everyone engage in some kind of light exercise, such as stretching or walking. It’s important to follow good time management practices for Ibada (prayer and other religious activities), sleep, studies, job, and physical activities or exercise. In summary, intake of a balanced diet is critical to maintain good health, sustain an active lifestyle and attain the full benefits of Ramadan. Reference: International Journal of Ramadan Fasting Research OPHTHALMIC EDUCATION (19) Mahfouth A Bamashmus FRCSEd, FRCOphth Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon Ibn-Al-Haitham Clinic University of Science & Technology, Sana’a Allah has given us a lot of things including our eyes and their ability to let us see our environment. Your eyes are two jewels and you should take care of them. Prevention is far better than treatment and you should take care of your eyes before any thing happens to them. If something goes wrong you should seek medical advice as soon as possible and avoid postponing visiting your eye doctor. Here are some advice and instructions on dealing with eye emergencies: •Chemical powders and liquids: If your eyes have been exposed to chemicals such as detergents, insecticides or perfumes you need immediately to wash your eyes thoroughly with water. You should keep washing your eyes for a period of time until you feel that all the chemicals have been removed or buffered. Then you need to seek medical advice as soon as possible. The earlier you see the eye doctor the less complications can happen to the eye. •Foreign bodies: If a foreign goes into your eyes you need to visit your eye doctor as soon as you can. Foreign bodies cause a lot of irritation and discomfort and can lead to serious infections. Avoid rubbing your eyes if a foreign body goes into your eyes and try to wash your eyes to get rid of the foreign body. Rubbing your eyes produces abrasions and damages the outer coat of the eye. •Eye scratches and abrasions: Your eyes can be injured with something sharp such as metals, tree-branches or while playing with your kids. All these can cause corneal abrasions. If that happens don’t take it easy and visit your eye doctor as soon as you can. If you develop an abrasion or an injury to your eyes; then you need to cover your eye with a clean tissue and visit your eye doctor immediately to get the right treatment. Corneal abrasions can develop into serious eye infections if not treated properly, especially those related to tree branches. •Eye infections: If you develop a red eye and you think it is an eye infection; don’t use any drops available at home. An eye infection can be due to bacteria or a virus and each of them needs a different treatment. You need to see your eye or family doctor to get the right medications. Cleaning the eye is the main treatment in these cases. So use clean disposable soft tissues Routine eye exam by an eye specialist is very important. It is your sight and your eyes need every care they deserve. Reference: PAACO educational leaflets, Cairo Dr. Abdul Rahman Thabet Pesticide Toxicology and Environmental Pollution Faculty of Agriculture Sana’a University The wide spread of qat cultivation deserves intensive studies relating to its social, economic and health hazards. Insecticides used in the cultivation imposes a real threat on a man’s health. To avoid the effect of the traditional insecticides, more attention has been given to find other alternatives by using biological elements with some chemical insecticides that have been proven harmless. The great demands on qat and its high revenues have made it preferable to the other kinds of corps. Its quick revenues encourage farmers to use chemical substances and insecticides to get good and more production, specially in winter when the tree is likely to be slowly growing . Physical Effects - Arterial blood pressure - High arterial blood pressure and high heart beating with possible heart and blood vessels diseases. - Difficulty in controlling blood pressure. - May cause heart attacks in patients of arterial blood pressure. - May help cause cerebral and heart clots. For the above reasons patients of arterial blood pressure are advised to refrain from qat. Digestive System - Qat chewers often suffer from stomatitis and eosophagitis because of the Tannic in qat. - It helps slow down emptying stomachache from food. - Slows process of emptying the stomach may cause heartburn and other diseases. Loss of appetite - Chewers lose appetite after chewing. They rarely have a complete meal on the same day. constipation - The tannic acid in the qat leaves causes constipation to those who chew qat regularly. - Regular chewers try to avoid this by having a meal with a lot of fat to help have a loose bowel movement. - It slows down discretion which is caused by the consumptional effects of qat leaves. Hepatitis - Continuos chewing may affect the liver. This may be a result of the remains of insecticides in the leaves. Effects on Urinary and Reproductive Systems Chewing qat may lead to: - urination difficulties. - oversexuality. - sperms appear in urine - weak erection Psychological Effects Qat has a stimulating effects on the Nerves System. After 1.5-3 hours of chewing , chewers feel: - highly spirited, - a bit excited caused mainly by social interaction and excessive talks, and - energetic. These effects reach the climax during the first three hours of chewing then they gradually fade away (3.5-10 hours) and are replaced with: - Parathymia (mood disorder) - Anxiety - Depression - Insomnia - Loss of appetite - Irritation Imported Chemical Insecticides. Chemical insecticides are more often used in the northern governorates than the other places. The land cultivated with qat in the northern governorates is vaster than that in the southern ones. During 1993-1998 use of insecticides rose from 585 to 2305 tons. There is no statistics on the volume of insecticides used in cultivation of qat but the official sources indicated that it is 70%. Imported Chemical Fertilizers Fertilizers used to improve fertility of the cultivated land to increase production has not only polluted the arable land but the ground water as well. Most of the farmers are illiterate, thus can not read the proper usage of the fertilizers causing many health and environmental problems. Other Factors influencing Fighting Qat Pets - Farmers depend on traders of insecticides and their neighbors as information sources on how to use insecticides. - Although using the same insecticide and fertilizers farmers use them in different volumes and at different times which indicates their ignorance of the right use. - Some farmers in the countryside use more than 3 kinds of insecticides at the same time. - Some farmers use substances that these are internationally banned such as DDT. In addition, they use kinds that have been classified by the WHO under 1-A and 1-B such that are only allowed to be used be specialists. - Banned insecticides enter Yemen through smuggling. - Ignoring the safety period after each treatment (2-3 days.) - Many farmers do not know how and when to use insecticides. - Some farmers are ignorant of the consequences of random use of insecticides. Effects of Insecticides and Fertilizers on the Environment - Effects of many kinds of chlorine hydrocarbon insecticides remain in the soil for more than 30 years. - Such insecticides affect man’s health and the environment due to their ability to dissolve in fat. They accumulate in man’s body causing poisoning and fetus malformation. - The chlorine hydrocarbonic insecticides banned in the beginning of the 1970s in the developed countries are still used here. - The random use of insecticides, specially in qat cultivation endangers man’s health and the environment. - Local, as well as international reports have established that a number of diseases are caused by the effects of insecticides in the leaves of qat. This effect sometimes reach the fetus. - The random use of insecticides create a kind of amenity in pets. - Development of this amenity requires high concentration of insecticides which causes many troubles to man’s health and environment. Effects on Chewers - Insecticides remains in the leaves mixes up with some inseams causing a state of stimulation to the Central Nerves System. The remains are sometimes transferred to the fetus and newly born babies by the umbilical cord or through breast-feeding. - Many reports have indicated that the remains accumulating inside the tissues spread causing immunity deficiency and many cancer diseases. Total expenditure on qat About 3 million people 27% of the total population chew qat. If the individual spends 300-400 rials on qat daily, 900 million rials is spent per day on qat by 3 million people. In other words about 1 billion rials is spent on qat per day, 30 billion per month and 460 billion per year. Qat-cultivated land 19708000 Hectares 1999100,000 Hectares In 1998 the land cultivated with Qat was as follows: Sana’a37715 Hectares Ibb15854 Hectares Hajjah 14594 Hectares Dhamar8263 Hectares The first four governorates form 76.2% of the total size of land cultivated with qat. Qat income per Hectare QatUSD 8410156% GrapesUSD 8170245% OrangesUSD 550842% CoffeeUSD 550833% BananasUSD 333723% Water consumption for qat in the governorates per Hectare Mareb30.4 thousand m3 Sana’a 20.6 thousand m3 Taiz11.5 thousand m3 Ibb5.2 thousand m3 70% of the total imported insecticides (3205 tones in a year) plus 17 thousand tons of smuggled insecticides is used in qat cultivation. |
Advertise | Subscribe | Feedback | Discussion
Yemenis Abroad | Weather | Classified
Postcards | Links | Newsletter
Opinion Poll
Any comments or suggestions should be emailed to Yemen Times Webmaster