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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Avicenna J Med 2014; 04(02): 29-33
DOI: 10.4103/2231-0770.130341
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The diabetic patient in Ramadan

Hassan Chamsi-Pasha
Department of Cardiology, Diabetes Centre, King Fahd Armed Forces Hospital, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
,
Khalid S Aljabri
Department of Endocrinology, Diabetes Centre, King Fahd Armed Forces Hospital, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
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Abstract

During the month of Ramadan, all healthy, adult Muslims are required to fast from dawn to sunset. Fasting during Ramadan involves abstaining from food, water, beverages, smoking, oral drugs, and sexual intercourse. Although the Quran exempts chronically ill from fasting, many Muslims with diabetes still fast during Ramadan. Patients with diabetes who fast during the month of Ramadan can have acute complications. The risk of complications in fasting individuals with diabetes increases with longer periods of fasting. All patients with diabetes who wish to fast during Ramadan should be prepared by undergoing a medical assessment and engaging in a structured education program to undertake the fast as safely as possible. Although some guidelines do exist, there is an overwhelming need for better designed clinical trials which could provide us with evidence-based information and guidance in the management of patients with diabetes fasting Ramadan.

Keywords

Diabetes mellitus - fasting - Islam - Ramadan


Publication History

Article published online:
09 August 2021

© 2014. Syrian American Medical Society. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

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