Healthy Ummah Series

When I hear the word “retarded” used to describe someone or something that is unintelligent, silly or even as a filler-word when another adjective doesn’t suffice, it literally makes me cringe.  Worse yet is when I hear it being used to actually describe someone with a disability in a derogatory way.  As a physician, I am versed in the fact that long ago, the word used to be a simple clinical term to describe those with developmental delays or cognitive disabilities.  However, Urban dictionary reminds us that “stupid” and “wasted” have since been more predominant uses. During the 2011 NBA Finals, Miami Heat star Lebron James murmured, “that’s retarded” after listening to what he felt was a “stupid question” at a post-game press...

As you relax in front of the TV with your sandwich, chips and large diet soda you may think to yourself, “This meal isn’t as bad since I switched over to diet”.  But is this really true? Recent studies suggest that diet soda may not be the healthier alternative after all.  Most popular diet drinks also increase your risk of diabetes, stroke, myocardial infarction (heart attack) and vascular death to an alarming extent.  To begin with, there is nothing “diet” about diet soda.  The impact they may have on your health includes the following: They increase your appetite, leading to weight gain and a host of risk factors for cardiovascular events. They can increase your risk for osteoporosis; diet soda contains phosphoric acid, which prevents the...

Mental health is today’s hot topic given last Friday’s tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut.  The importance of this issue is no longer a topic for discussion but a topic for action.  It is imperative that our health care system create room for mental illness to be destigmatized, detected, treated, and prevented.  As I see it, the diagnosis and treatment of heart disease is great for the one who has it, yet the diagnosis and treatment of mental illnesses is great for the person, their family, and their entire community. Therefore, as we begin to focus detection of mental illness on high-risk individuals in order to prevent heinous crimes like those in Aurora, Colorado, Oak Creek, Wisconsin, and Newtown, Connecticut, we cannot forget the importance of the mental...

 If you are coming to the ISNA conference, please do let us know.  We have two super events lined up: (1) ”Helping Our Community Conquer Addiction, Vices, and Grief Through Worship and Counseling“–our panel discussion on Sunday 2 Sept at 2:30pm. Click through for additional information! (2) “Muslim Health Forum“–our inaugural TED talk-style event which features several exciting presenters spanning social health policy, epidemiology, environmental health, and entrepreneurship.  (This event is free at Busboys and Poets, which is a few blocks away from the Convention Center.). Click through for additional...

Our system of food production is becoming more and more complicated and we are becoming less and less confident in the quality of what’s going inside our bodies. Understanding food today is much more than reading nutrition facts labels. Last month, thousands of people on facebook posted a guide to decoding produce stickers.  Four numbers means chemically treated, five numbers starting with an ‘8’ means genetically modified, and five numbers starting with a ‘9’ means organic. Learning and adhering to our Prophet’s diet is one way to maintain confidence in what we’re eating and to shift to a more uncomplicated foodstyle.  There are three practices of Prophet Muhammed (peace be upon him) that I find especially helpful (and relatively easy!). 1)  Eat...

On the first day of Andrew’s neurology rotation, his attending turned to him and asked, “Name one thing that has been scientifically shown to prolong life.” Andrew, a newly minted 3rd year medical student, replied in his naivete, “Antibiotics, of course.” The attending shook his head no.  “Ok, vaccines?” he tried a second time.  Another head shake no.  “Um…surgery?”  No again. The attending finally replied that the answer was, in fact, decreased caloric intake. Fasting is an age old tradition of many faiths and cultures, particularly within the Abrahamic faiths. Greek Orthodox Christians fast for a total of 180-200 days each year (the main fasting periods are the 40 Nativity Fast days prior to Christmas, the 48 days of Lent prior to...