The Quran and Modern Science

Exerted from speach of Dr:Zakir Naik and Compiled by ISLAMzProtector
The Holy Qur'an is the last and final revelation of Allah Subhanu WaTaala, which was revealed to the last and final messenger Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). For any book to claim that It is a revelation from Allah Subhana WaTala - for any book to claim, It is a word of Almighty God, it should stand the test of time - It should prove itself to be the word of God in all the ages. Previously it was the age of Miracles, ‘Moujaza’. A ‘Miracle’ is any unusual event, for which the human beings do not have any explanation. It is any unusual event which is attributed to a Super Natural Power or Almighty God. The Holy Qur'an is the ‘Miracle of Miracles’. But for a modern man to accept any Miracle, he will first analyze and verify it. Alhamdulillah, the Holy Qur'an proved itself to be aword of God 1400 years ago. Even today it can be analyzed and verified, and even in future, and it will always prove It itself to be a word of Almighty God – It is a Miracle of all times. Suppose a person says that he has done a Miracle – I would like to give an example of Baba Pilot who said, ‘that he stayed underwater in a tank, for three days’. And when the reporters, when they wanted to examine, the base of the tank, he said… ‘how can you examine the womb of the mother, which gives birth to the child?’ - And He prevented the reporters, from examining the base of the tank. Will a modern man accept such Miracles? . If such Miracles are the tests, then he has to agree with me, that P. C. Sorcar who happens to be one of the leading magicians of the world, he will be considered as the best god-man alive today. Later on, came the age of literature and poetry - Muslims and non-Muslims alike - they acclaim the Holy Qur’an to be the best Arabic literature available on the face of the earth.
And the Holy Qur'an gives a challenge in Surah Al-Baqara, Ch. No. 2, Verse No. 23, and 24, where it says…‘And if you are in doubt, as what we have revealed to our servant from time to time then produce a Surah some what similar to it and call forth your witnesses and helpers if there are any besides Allah, but if your doubts are truthful and if ye cannot and of a surety you cannot then fear the fire which is prepared for those who reject faith whose fuel shall be men and stones’.
For any one to try and accept this challenge - but natural the Surah they produce should be in Arabic. There are certain Surahs which are hardly three verses hardly three sentences. The Surah they produce should be in Arabic - The language should be as divine as that of the Holy Qur'an as noble as the Holy Qur'an. The language of the Holy Qur'an is miraculous, is unsurpassable, intelligible, it has the highest rhetoric and at the same time it is very rhythmic. When any one wants to praise a person or wants to glorify anyone, he deviates away from reality - and the best example you can see is in the Hindi movies when the hero praises the heroine, and he tries to please her and says ‘Main tumhare liye chand tod ke leke aounga, mai tomhare liye sitare tod ke leke aounga’ ‘I will get for you the Moon I will get for you the star’. The more you try and praise a person, the more you deviate away from reality.Alhamdulillah, though the Qur'an is rhythmic it does not deviate from reality.There were many people who tried to produce a Surah like the Qur'an, but they failed miserably. No one has been able to do it so far, and no one InshaAllah will be able to do it till eternity. But suppose if I tell you that there is a religious scripture who says in a very poetic fashion that ‘the world is flat’ - Will a modern man today believe?. But natural no, because today is not the age of literature and poetry - Today is the age of science and technology. Let as analyze today the Holy Qur'an and modern science - whether they conflict or conciliate? The Qur'an and modern science whether they contradict or they are compatible? According to the famous physicist, Albert Einstein, who had got the Nobel prize, he said – ‘Science without religion is lame, and religion without science is blind’. I would like to repeat it - Albert Einstein said that ‘Science without religion is lame and religion without science is blind’. I would like to remind you that the Holy Qur'an is not a ‘book of Science’… S-C-I-E-N-C- E; but it's a book of Signs… S-I-G-N-S; it's a book of Ayaats - and there are more than 6000 Signs or 6000 Ayats, out of which more than a thousand speak about Science. There are some people who would be satisfied just by acquiring one sign. Some people require 10 signs to accept the truth. Some may require a hundred, while the others even after you produce a thousand signs to them yet they will not accept the truth. As far as my talk today will be concerned, I will only be speaking about those scientific facts which have been established. I will not be speaking about theories which are based on assumptions and hypothesis, because we know very well that many a times science based on theories and hypothesis it takes U-turns.
In the field of Astronomy - if you ask a scientist that how was our universe formed? - How did it come into existence? He will tell you about the Big Bang Theory - that initially the whole universe was one ‘Primary Nebula’. Then there was a secondary separation which gave rise to galaxies, which further split to form things such as our solar system, which gave rise to planets, the Sun and the present earth which we live in. I started my talk by quoting a verse of the Holy Qur'an from Surah Al-Anbiya, Ch. No. 21, Verse No. 30, which says ‘Do not the unbelievers see the heavens and the earth were joined together, and We clove them asunder?’
This verse of the Holy Qur'an speaks about the Big Bang Theory, in a nutshell. Imagine, what we came to know today, the Holy Qur'an mentions 1400 years ago.And the Qur'an also says in Surah Fussilat, Ch. No. 41, verse 11, that… ‘Moreover, in His design He comprehended the sky, and it had been smoke. And He said to it and the earth, come ye together willingly or unwillingly, and they said we come together in willing obedience’.
The Arabic word used here is ‘Dukhan’, which means ‘Smoke’. If you ask a scientist, he will tell you that the, universe before it was formed, the celestial matter, it was in the state of ‘gas’, and the Arabic word ‘Dukhan’ which means Smoke, is more scientifically correct than mere ‘gas’. And according to Stephen Hawkins, who is a very famous scientist, he said – ‘the discovery of bridges of matter in the space, is the biggest discovery of this century which gives us indisputable evidence of the creation of the universe and the Big Bang Theory’. Previously the people thought that the world we live in - it is flat - and they were afraid to venture too far, lest they would fall over. It was only in 1597, when Sir Francis Drake - when he sailed around the earth he proved that the world was spherical.
The Qur'an mentions in Surah Luqman, Ch. No. 31, Verse 29 "It is Allah that merges the night unto the day and merges the day unto the night’.
Merging is a slow and gradual process. The night slowly and gradually changes to day, and the day slowly and gradually changes to night. This phenomena is only possible if the shape of the earth is spherical – It is not possible if it is flat. If it was flat there will be a sudden change.
The Qur'an says in Surah Al Zumar, Ch. No. 39, Verse No. 5, it says ‘It is Allah who has created the heavens and the earth in true proportion and he overlaps and coils the night unto the day and overlaps or coils the day unto the night’.
The Arabic word used is, ‘Kawwara’ which means overlapping or coiling. How you coil a turban around the head - How you overlap a turban around the head. This phenomena of the night overlapping and coiling over the day is only possible if the shape of the earth is spherical. It is not possible if the shape of earth is flat - there will be a sudden change. The Holy Qur'an further says in Surah Naziat, Ch. No. 79, Verse No. 30…. It says. ‘And thereafter, We have made the earth egg-shaped’. The Arabic word ‘Dahaha’ comes from root word ‘Duhya’, meaning an Egg-shape and it does not refer to any normal Egg. It specifically refers to the Egg of an Ostrich - and today we know that the world is not completely round like a ball- It is Geo Spherical. It is slightly flattened from the top and bulging from the centre - It is Geo Spherical. And if you analyze the shape of the Egg of an Ostrich - it too is Geo Spherical, slightly flattened from the top and bulging from the centre. So the Holy Qur'an describes the exact ‘geo spherical earth’ 1400 years ago.

Muslims and Weight Loss

by Karima Burns (MH, ND)
An English proverb points out, "Some men walk through the forest yet see no firewood." As Muslims, we should be careful of falling into this proverbial truth.
Muslims often seek outside help to lose weight, although the Qur'an and Hadith provide guidance on many ways through which we can combat being overweight. They include periodic cleansings, eating simple and whole foods and herbs, avoiding excess, drinking plenty of water, praying and seeking guidance from Allah, seeking the help of others, and being persistent and patient.
Ramadan is a time for physical cleansing as well as spiritual cleansing. A prophetic tradition (Hadith) states, "Fast the month of Ramadan so to heal your bodies from disease." If we strive to eat only pure, simple and light foods during Ramadan, we can undergo a physical as well as a spiritual cleansing. Since there is such a strong scientifically proven correlation between our spiritual, mental and physical health, to purify all systems at the same time provides the ultimate and most powerful detoxification fast that we have available today.
To eat purely means to eat the whole, unprocessed and pure foods that Allah has provided us such as whole wheat breads, grains, beans, vegetables and fresh fruits. These are perfect foods and we do not need to improve them with colors, chemicals and preservatives. The Qur'an (5:4) says, "They ask thee what is lawful to them as food. Say, 'Lawful unto you are all things good and pure.'" And (50:7), "And the earth we have spread out, and we have set firm mountains on it, and have made every kind of beautiful growth to grow on it."
The Qur'an also says (7:31),"Eat and drink, but waste not by excess for God loves not the prodigals." Prophet Muhammad (SAW) emphasized this in Hadith when he mentioned that, "The stomach is the home of disease, and abstinence the head of every remedy. So make this your custom." It is easy to eat in excess since foods once reserved for royalty are now readily available in every supermarket. However, there is a hidden cost to excess consumption that keeps them expensive. Livestock pay this hidden cost by being injected with hormones and chemicals to increase the production of meat, cheese, milk and cream. The earth pays an even higher price when we consider the amount of grain and water used to raise the excess number of cattle for meat consumption.
Eating breakfast is also an important part of weight loss as it speeds metabolism of the body. The Hadith say, "Eat your meal at dawn, for there is blessing in the meal at dawn," and, "There is blessing in three things: the early morning meal, bread and soup."
Also, we must not ignore the benefits of the many herbs that Allah has provided us. Sahih Bukhari relates that, "For every malady Allah created, He also created its cure. Whoever acquires such knowledge shall benefit from it, and one who ignores it will forgo such benefit."
Another gift that Allah has given us in the battle against excess weight is water. The Qur'an says (15:45), "The righteous will be amid gardens and fountains of clear-flowing water," and (21:30), "We made water essential for all life." Muslims wanting to lose weight would benefit by drinking ten glasses of water a day, at least one half hour before and after meals.
As well as their spiritual benefits, the five prescribed daily prayers also provide physical toning benefits to the body. And patience is often the greatest test we face when we decide to lose weight. However, the Qur'an says (2:155), "Give glad tidings to those who exercise patience when struck with adversity and say, 'Indeed, we belong to God, and to Him is our return.' Such ones receive blessings and mercy from their Lord, and such are the guided ones."
Lastly, we cannot forget the power of prayer and support from others. The Qur'an says (26:80), "... And when I sicken, then He (Allah) heals me." Abu Hurairah relates, "Allah never inflicts a disease unless he makes a cure for it." Weight gain is often caused by excess, and the weakness of one or more organs of the body. A Hadith even says, "The origin of every disease is cold. So eat when you desire and refrain when you desire." Many people have lost weight simply by warming up their bodies with herbs and warm foods, and reducing heavier, colder foods and those that clog and chill the system.
"Oh, Lord! Advance me in knowledge..." The Qur'an says, and the Prophet has stated, that we should, "Seek knowledge, even in China." Along these lines, we can also obtain wisdom from people all around the world in the subject of weight loss. Utilizing the support of programs such as Weight Watchers or information provided in magazines can be beneficial - as long as we turn to the Qur'an as our ultimate inspiration

Alcohol

According to Quran and Sunnah

The Prohibition
Hadith - Al-Tirmidhi #580, Narrated AbudDarda'
...don't drink wine for it is the key to every evil.
Hadith - Abu Dawood, Narrated Umar ibn al-Khattab
When the prohibition of wine (was yet to be) declared, Umar said: O Allah, give us a satisfactory explanation about wine. So the following verse of Surat al-Baqarah revealed; "They ask thee concerning wine and gambling. Say: In them is great sin...." Umar was then called and it was recited to him. He said: O Allah, give us a satisfactory explanation about wine. Then the following verse of Surat an-Nisa' was revealed: "O ye who believe! approach not prayers with a mind befogged...." Thereafter the herald of the Apostle of Allah would call when the (congregational) prayer was performed: Beware, one who is drunk should not come to prayer. Umar was again called and it was recited to him. He said: O Allah, give us a satisfactory explanation about wine. This verse was revealed: "Will ye not then abstain?" Umar said: We abstained.
The Noble Qur'an - al-Baqarah 2:219
They ask you (O Muhammad ) concerning alcoholic drink and gambling. Say: "In them is a great sin, and (some) benefit for men, but the sin of them is greater than their benefit." And they ask you what they ought to spend. Say: "That which is beyond your needs." Thus Allâh makes clear to you His Laws in order that you may give thought.

Selling and Buying
Hadith - Al-Tirmidhi #2776, Narrated Anas ibn Malik
Allah's Messenger cursed ten people in connection with wine: the wine-presser, the one who has it pressed, the one who drinks it, the one who conveys it, the one to whom it is conveyed, the one who serves it, the one who sells it, the one who benefits from the price paid for it, the one who buys it, and the one for whom it is bought.
Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah transmitted it.
Dying when Addicted
Hadith - Muslim #4963, Narrated Abdullah ibn Umar
Allah's Messenger said: Every intoxicant is Khamr and every intoxicant is forbidden. He who drinks wine in this world and dies while he is addicted to it, not having repented, will not be given a drink in the Hereafter.

Beat for Drunkedness

Hadith - Bukhari 3:509, Narrated 'Uqba bin Al-Harith
When An-Nuaman or his son was brought in a state of drunkenness, Allah's Apostle ordered all those who were present in the house to beat him. I was one of those who beat him. We beat him with shoes and palm-leaf stalks.
Hadith - Bukhari 8:764, Narrated Anas bin Malik
The Prophet beat a drunk with palm-leaf stalks and shoes. And Abu Bakr gave (such a sinner) forty lashes.
Hadith - Bukhari 8:768, Narrated Abu Salama
Abu Huraira said, "A man who drank wine was brought to the Prophet . The Prophet said, 'Beat him!' " Abu Huraira added, "So some of us beat him with our hands, and some with their shoes, and some with their garments (by twisting it) like a lash, and then when we finished, someone said to him, 'May Allah disgrace you!' On that the Prophet said, 'Do not say so, for you are helping Satan to overpower him.' "

Shaitan's Use of Intoxicants

The Noble Qur'an - Al-Ma'idah 5:91
Shaitân (Satan) wants only to excite enmity and hatred between you with intoxicants (alcoholic drinks) and gambling, and hinder you from the remembrance of Allâh and from As-Salât (the prayer). So, will you not then abstain?

Prayer Not Accepted

Hadith - Al-Tirmidhi #3643, narrated Abdullah ibn Umar ; Abdullah ibn Amr
Allah's Messenger said, "If anyone drinks wine Allah will not accept prayer from him for forty days, but if he repents Allah will forgive him. If he repeats the offence Allah will not accept prayer from him for forty days, but if he repents Allah will forgive him. If he again repeats the offence Allah will not accept prayer from him for forty days, but if he repents Allah will forgive him. If he repeats it a fourth time Allah will not accept prayer from him for forty days, and if he repents Allah will not forgive him, but will give him to drink of the river of the fluid flowing from the inhabitants of Hell."
[Tirmidhi transmitted it, and Nasa'i, Ibn Majah and Darimi transmitted it on the authority of Abdullah ibn Amr.]

Medicine

Hadith - Abu Dawood, narrated Tariq ibn Suwayd or Suwayd ibn Tariq
Wa'il said: Tariq ibn Suwayd or Suwayd ibn Tariq asked the Prophet about wine, but he forbade it. He again asked him, but he forbade him. He said to him: Prophet of Allah, it is a medicine. The Prophet said: No it is a disease.
Hadith
Umm Salamah, the wife of the Prophet reports that he once said: "Allah has not placed a cure for your diseases in things that He has forbidden for you.'' (Reported by Baihaqi; Ibn Hibban considers this hadith to be sound.Bukhari has also related it on the authority of Ibn Mas'ud.)
Hadith - Abu Dawood; Sahih Bukhari
Abu ad-Darda reported that the Prophet said: "Allah has sent down both the malady and its remedy. For every disease He has created a cure. So seek medical treatment, but never with something the use of which Allah has prohibited.''

The Creation of the Universe

"The explosive vigour of the universe is thus matched with almost unbelievable accuracy to its gravitating power. The big bang was not evidently, any old bang, but an explosion of exquisitely arranged magnitude." Paul Davies, Superforce: The Search for a Grand Unified Theory of Nature, 1984, p. 184 “If the rate of expansion one second after the big bang had been smaller by even one part in a hundred thousand million million, the universe would have recollapsed before it ever reached its present size.” Stephen Hawking, A Brief History Of Time, Bantam Press, London: 1988, p. 121-125 "…Something else has to be behind things, somehow guiding them. And that, one might say, is a kind of mathematical proof of divinity." Guy Marchie, American Science Writer Guy Murchie, The Seven Mysteries of Life, Boston: The Houghton Mifflin Company, 1978, p. 598 "If the world's finest minds can unravel only with difficulty the deeper workings of nature, how could it be supposed that those workings are merely a mindless accident, a product of blind chance?" Paul Davies, Superforce, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1984, p. 235-236 "The Earth, with its atmosphere and oceans, its complex biosphere, its crust of relatively oxidised, silica rich, sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic rocks overlaying [a magnesium silicate mantle and core] of metallic iron, with its ice caps, deserts, forests, tundra, jungles, grasslands, fresh-water lakes, coal beds, oil deposits, volcanoes, fumaroles, factories, automobiles, plants, animals, magnetic field, ionosphere, mid-ocean ridges, convincing mantle... is a system of stunning complexity." J. S. Lewis, American Geologist F. Press, R. Siever, Earth, New York: W. H. Freeman, 1986, p. 2 "That the radiation from the sun (and from many sequence stars) should be concentrated into a minuscule band of the electromagnetic spectrum which provides precisely the radiation required to maintain life on earth is very remarkable." Ian Campbell, British Physicist Ian M. Campbell, Energy and the Atmosphere, London: Wiley, 1977, p.1-2 "This, as most other of the Atheists' Arguments, proceeds from a deep Ignorance of Natural Philosophy; for if there were but half the sea that now is, there would also be but half the Quantity of Vapours, and consequently we could have but half as many Rivers as now there are to supply all the dry land we have at present, and half as much more; for the quantity of Vapours which are raised, as well as to the heat which raised them. The Wise Creator therefore did so prudently order it, that the seas should be large enough to supply Vapours sufficient for all the land." John Ray, 18th century British Naturalist John Ray, The Wisdom of God Manifested in the Word of Creation, 1701; Michael Denton, Nature's Destiny, p. 73 "There is a mind and purpose behind the universe. There are hints of that divine presence in how abstract mathematics can penetrate the universe's secrets, which suggests that a rational mind created the world. Nature is fined tuned to allow life and consciousness to emerge." John Polkinghorne, British Physicist "Science Finds God", Newsweek, 27 July 1998 "In its standard form, the big bang theory assumes that all parts of the universe began expanding simultaneously. But how could all the different parts of the universe synchronize the beginning of their expansion? Who gave the command?" Andrei Linde, "The Self-Reproducing Inflationary Universe", Scientific American, vol. 271, 1994, p. 48

Some Useful information on Cancer

Forwarded by Khalil Essat

1. Every person has cancer cells in the body. These cancer cells do not show up in the standard tests until they have multiplied to a few billion. When doctors tell cancer patients that there are no more cancer cells in their bodies after treatment, it just means the tests are unable to detect the cancer cells because they have not reached the detectable size.

2. Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10 times in a person's lifetime.

3. When the person's immune system is strong the cancer cells will be destroyed and prevented from multiplying and forming tumors.

4. When a person has cancer it indicates the person has multiple nutritional deficiencies. These could be due to genetic, environmental, food and lifestyle factors. 5. To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing diet and including supplements will strengthen the immune system.

6. Chemotherapy involves poisoning the rapidly-growing cancer cells and also destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells in the bone marrow,gastro-intestinal tract etc, and can cause organ damage, like liver, kidneys, heart, lungs etc.

7. Radiation while destroying cancer cells also burns, scars and damages healthy cells, tissues and organs.

8. Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation will often reduce tumor size. However prolonged use of chemotherapy and radiation do not result in more tumor destruction.

9. When the body has too much toxic burden from chemotherapy and radiation the immune system is either compromised or destroyed, hence the person can succumb to various kinds of infections and complications.

10. Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer cells to mutate and become resistant and difficult to destroy. Surgery can also cause cancer cells to spread to other sites.

11. An effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer cells by not feeding it with the foods it needs to multiply.

CANCER CELLS FEED ON:

a. Sugar is a cancer-feeder. By cutting off sugar it cuts off one important food supply to the cancer cells. Sugar substitutes like NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc are made with Aspartame and it is harmful. A better natural substitute would be Manuka honey or molasses but only in very small amounts. Table salt has a chemical added to make it white in colour. Better alternative is Bragg's aminos or sea salt.

b. Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the gastro-intestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus. By cutting off milk and substituting with unsweetened soya milk cancer cells are being starved.

c. Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment. A meat-based diet is acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little chicken rather than beef or pork. Meat also contains livestock antibiotics, growth hormones and parasites, which are all harmful, especially to people with cancer.

d. A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole grains, seeds, nuts and a little fruits help put the body into an alkaline environment. About 20% can be from cooked food including beans.Fresh vegetable juices provide live enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to cellular levels within 15 minutes to nourish and enhance growth of healthy cells. To obtain live enzymes for building healthy cells try and drink fresh vegetable juice (most vegetables including bean sprouts)and eat some raw vegetables 2 or 3 times a day. Enzymes are destroyed at temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).

e. Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high caffeine. Green tea is a better alternative and has cancer-fighting properties. Water-best to drink purified water, or filtered, to avoid known toxins and heavy metals in tap water. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it.

12. Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of digestive enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the intestines become putrefied and leads to more toxic buildup.

13. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By refraining from or eating less meat it frees more enzymes to attack the protein walls of cancer cells and allows the body's killer cells to destroy the cancer cells.

14. Some supplements build up the immune system (IP6, Flor-ssence,Essiac, anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals, EFAs etc.) to enable the body's own killer cells to destroy cancer cells. Other supplements like vitamin E are known to cause apoptosis, or programmed cell death, the body's normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted, or unneeded cells.

15. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit. A proactive and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior be a survivor. Anger, unforgiveness and bitterness put the body into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax and enjoy life. 16. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment. Exercising daily, and deep breathing help to get more oxygen down to the cellular level. Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer cells.

Courtesy: AL-ISLAAH PUBLICATIONS

What Is Asthma?

UNLIKE other common chromic illness such as diabetes or hypertension, which have a simple definition, asthma is a clinical condition that is defined by its clinical, physiological and pathological features.

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disorder or the airways in which many cells and cellular elements play a role. The chronic inflammation is associated with airways hyper responsiveness that leads to recurrent episodes of wheezing, breathlessness, chest tightness and coughing, especially at night or in the early morning.

These episodes are usually associated with widespread, but variable airflow obstruction within the lung that is often reversible either spontaneously or with treatment.

Clinical manifestations of asthma is controlled, there should be severe exacerbations should be rare.


Burden of asthma

Asthma is a major problem worldwide with almost 300 million people suffering from asthma. Poorly controlled asthma is also a major cause of morbidity and mortality as such it is a burden to the health care system.

The cost of asthma to any health care system depends on the individual patient's level of control and the extent to which exacerbations are avoided.
Point to note include:

- Emergency treatment is more expensive that scheduled treatment.
- The non-medical economic cost of asthma is substantial
- Guidelines have determined that asthma care can be cost effective
- Families can suffer from the financial burden of treating asthma

Based on these findings, from the perspective of both the patient and society, the cost of not treating asthma correctly is very much higher.

Thus using guidelines such as the GINA guidelines to deliver appropriate care based on the severity of the patient's asthma is probably the most cost efficient way to optimize asthma care.


Factor that cause asthma

Factor that influence the risk of asthma can be divided into those that cause the development of asthma and those that trigger asthma symptoms. The mechanisms by which they influence the development and expression of asthma are very complex and interactive.

Host factor that influence the development of asthma are genetic predisposition to atopy and airway hyper responsiveness. Environmental factors that cause asthma are allergens both indoor and outdoor, infections, occupational sensitizers, tobacco smoke, outdoor and indoor pollution.


Mechanism of asthma

Asthma is an inflammatory disorder that is driven by the inter-play of several inflammatory cells and multiple mediators which result in a wide and variable spectrum of manifestation of the disease.

There is an interaction between inflammatory cells and inflammatory mediators. The inflammatory cells are those which are found in allergic diseases such as mast cells and eosinophills. The list of known inflammatory mediators keeps growing and at the last count there are more that one hundred (100) known mediators, and the list keeps growing.


Diagnosis of asthma

A clinical diagnosis of asthma is made when a person has symptoms of episodic breathlessness, wheezing, cough and chest tightness. Measurement of lung function provides an objective assessment of the severity of airflow, its reversibility and help confirm the diagnosis.

Clinical control of asthma is defined as:

-Daytime symptoms not more than twice a week

-No limitation of daily activities

-No nighttime symptoms

-Using relive medications not more than twice in a week

-Normal or near-normal lung function

-No acute attacks.

Treatment of asthma

The goal of asthma treatment is to achieve and maintain clinical control. The drugs used can be divided into controllers and relievers. Controllers are drug that are taken on a daily basic to keep asthma under control. Examples include inhaled steroids, sustained release theophyllines, leukotrine modifiers, and combinations of long acting beta-agonist with inhaled steroids.
Relievers are drugs that are used on an as needed basic to rapidly reduce the symptoms of breathlessness, and include drugs such as short-acting beta-agonists.
Asthma medications can be given by the inhaled, oral and intravenous route. It is preferable that inhalation therapy is used in asthma so that the drugs are delivered directly into the lungs. This ensures that the drug is delivered directly to the airways, producing higher concentrations of the drug at target sites with reduced total dose, thus reduced total dose, thus reducing the occurrence of side effects.
Increased use of relievers is a warning sign of worsening asthma and any patient who uses his or her reliever more that two times in a week is in danger of having a life threatening attack of asthma.

Asthma management –Effective partnership between patient and doctor

Effective management of asthma requires the development of a partnership between the patient and the healthcare provider. The aim of this partnership is guided self-management-that is, to empower asthmatic individuals with the ability to control their own condition with guidance from health care professionals.
The patient must be given adequate education on the role of the various symptoms so that they are in a position to take the necessary steps to maximize the control of their asthma.

GOOD OLD GARLIC

-fact or fiction

WASHINTON: Garlic – long touted as a wonder food for treating everything from the common cold to heart aliments – is one of the most popular dietary supplements in the United States.

But a new study published in the Feb 26 issue of Archive of Internal Medicine questions one popular notion: that raw garlic supplements may help lower cholesterol.

Forty-nine participants in the study were randomly assigned to receive raw garlic, 47 to take a powdered garlic supplements, 48 others took an aged garlic supplement, while 48 took a placebo.

The nearly three-year study determined that none of the garlic treatments had a “statistically significant” impact in treating high cholesterol – despite the fact that many garlic supplements are promoted as cholesterol-lowering agents. However, the researchers could not rule out garlic’s effectiveness in treating other ailments.
“The result do not demonstrate that garlic has no usefulness in the prevention of cardiovascular disease,” the authors wrote.

The reported no serious side-effects from giving the study’s subjects intensive doses of garlic, although breath and body odour problems were reported by more than half of the subjects in the raw garlic group -AFP

ASPARTAME - THE SILENT KILLER

For those who take Ricola & Fisherman , please note that they both contain Aspartame - the silent killer.

We used to buy this silent poison...I had actually stopped since last April. I was shocked when I was stopped at the metal detection at Changi Airport (Japan Trip) due to this sweet...reason given by security officer, it contains "lead".

This website shows the adverse effects of ASPARTAME....... http://www.nexusmagazine.com/articles/aspartame.html

Fisherman Sweets

FOR THOSE WHO LIKE TO EAT FISHERMAN SWEETS BE CAREFUL. Sugar free products contain ASPARTAME ..

So don't consume Sugar free product esp. 'fisherman sweets'

ASPARTAME - THE SILENT KILLER (by Ron Harder)

To those who prefer to consume artificial flavouring.........

There is an epidemic across North America today of Multiple Sclerosis and Lupus. Most people do not understand why this epidemic is happening, and they do not know why these diseases are so rampant.

I would like to share with you the main reason we are having this very serious problem.

Many people today use artificial sweeteners in their tea or coffee.

They do this because the ads they see on TV tell them that sugar is bad for their health. This is absolutely true. Sugar is toxic to us , but what most people use as a replacement for sugar is much more deadly.

I am talking about ASPARTAME. It is the cause of the epidemic that was mentioned above. ASPARTAME is an extremely toxic chemical that is produced by a chemical company called Monsanto.

ASPARTAME is being marketed around the world as a sugar substitute and is found in all diet soft drinks, such as Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi. It is also found in artificial sweeteners such as NutraSweet, Equal, and Spoonful; and it is used in many other products as a sugar replacement.

ASPARTAME is marketed as a diet product, but it is not a diet product at all.

In fact, it will cause you to GAIN weight because it makes you crave carbohydrates. Causing you to gain weight is only a very small part of what ASPARTAME does.

It is a toxic chemical that changes the brain's chemistry. It can and does cause severe seizures.

This chemical changes the dopamine level in the brain , and it is particularly deadly for anyone suffering from Parkinson's disease.

ASPARTAME is extremely poisonous, and here is why one of the toxic ingredients of it is wood alcohol. When the temperature of ASPARTAME exceeds 86 degrees F, the wood alcohol in it is converted to Formaldehyde, and then to formic acid, which in turn causes folic acidosis.

FORMALDEHYDE is grouped in the same class of poisons as Cyanide and Arsenic which are very deadly toxins. The only difference is, Formaldehyde kills quietly, and it takes a little longer. And, in the process of killing people, it causes all kinds of neurological problems. There are 92 documented symptoms of Aspartame Poisoning leading to coma and death.

The majority of these symptoms are neurological, because the

ASPARTAME attacks and destroys the nervous system.

One of these symptoms is Lupus, which has become almost as rampant as Multiple Sclerosis, especially with Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi drinkers.