Heat and chronic diseases burden people in Ramadan

2008-09-10

During the holy month of Ramadan, Tunisians are accustomed to fasting in the daytime heat and overeating after iftar, but for people with chronic diseases, dehydration and lack of nutrition pose unique problems.

By Jamel Arfaoui for Magharebia in Tunis – 10/09/08

[Jamel Arfaoui] Dr. Sami Ben Ali said many Tunisian diabetics suffer needlessly during Ramadan. "They could have avoided such a condition," he said, but "most Tunisians still don't believe in prevention."

It is the second week of Ramadan and people with chronic diseases--especially those with diabetes, heart problems and blood pressure irregularity--are already starting to feel the toll on their health.

The weather doesn’t seem to help.

This year, the holy month came in the middle of a hot fall, where temperatures averaged 46 Celsius across Tunisia. And although the government announced that work days in Ramadan would start at 9 a.m. instead of 8 a.m., people said it is not enough to help cope.

Emergency rooms have reported admitting an increased number of patients since the start of Ramadan. In some hospitals, the numbers of urgent cases have doubled. Most patients admitted are elderly or people suffering from diabetes, heart or stomach diseases.

To help patients who opt to fast, awareness-raising campaigns kicked off across the country several days before the holy month started.

Offering advise on the diets people with health problems should follow while fasting, the campaigns were organised by associations, mosque imams and private labs.

Dr. Khamis Nekati, a nutrition specialist, said that diabetic people, for instance, who are fasting can face serious problems if they fail to pay attention to their diet. Abstaining from eating during the day, he said, leads to a dangerous decrease in blood sugar levels. Eating huge quantities of food during iftar brings the sugar levels up again, sometimes dangerously high.

Al Sabah cited Ministry of Public Health sources as saying that during the first days of Ramadan, medical emergency centres admitted a number of people suffering from chronic diseases directly after iftar.

Medications and organising one's daily life, Nekati said, can help patients fast safely.

"They could have avoided such a condition if they had consulted with me before the start of Ramadan," Ben Ali said in an interview. "Unfortunately, most Tunisians still don't believe in prevention."

Dr. Sami Ben Ali said he has seen double the usual number of patients in his clinic so far.

"They could have avoided such a condition if they had consulted with me before the start of Ramadan," Ben Ali said in an interview. "Unfortunately, most of the people in Tunisia still don't believe in prevention."

The blazing sun and hot weather "made matters worse," he said, "especially for the elderly, as many of them experience conditions of dehydration. This happens in ordinary days when the weather is hot, and it becomes even worse during Ramadan when they don't drink for 15 straight hours."

Ben Ali said he is not one to issue a fatwa about who should fast and who should not.

"It is medically and religiously clear. People who suffer from diabetes and high blood pressure shouldn't fast; otherwise they will wind up dying, and Islam rejects such a thing, because the sick are under no obligation to fast."