KARACHI: Eminent religious scholars and national and international health experts have said that keeping fast is beneficial for healthy Muslims, but it is mandatory for the patients to follow the advice of doctors in the month of Ramadan as doctor’s status becomes ‘Ameer’ for their patients in the holy month. They declared that keeping fast against the recommendations of health experts is forbidden.
They expressed these views while speaking at the concluding ceremony of the 4th International Diabetes and Ramadan Conference held here at a local hotel.
They said it is generally safe to keep fast for the diabetics, pregnant women and people with cardiovascular diseases and even beneficial for the people with mental disorders as fasting boost the mental health and immune system but doctors must be consulted to ascertain their opinion before deciding to keep fast or not.
On the occasion, Ramadan Specific Guidelines 2018, prepared by the Ramadan Study Group was also launched which would be distributed among doctors in Karachi and other cities of Pakistan so that they could advise patients on how to observe fast safely.
Aga Khan University eminent neurologist and expert Dr Wasey Shakir claimed that keeping fast boosts mental health as well as strengthens the immunity of a person while the process of fasting plays an unprecedented role in improving mental health and slowing down the ageing process in the humans.