In the fundamentalist Islamic world alcohol is banned. In dealing with chronic obesity, excess Cholesterol (chemically an an Alcohol) is a major problem for the morbidly obese sector of the Saudi population whose wealth has lead to an excess intake of fatty foods - being fat means generating an alcohol or alkanol(Cholesterol) that can result in severe penalties potentially in the Kingdom
Today a major moral conflict arose with a Doctor of Medicine (Islamic) who refused to mention the "W" word! that is part of the famous cholesterol-busting 'Meditterranean diet'!. The "W" in this case is Wine. Wine is of course an alcohol, and the Tannins in red wine help to promote the oxidationof cholesterol to ketones, then to aldehydes.....The Ethanol in Wine may also act as a solvent to long-chain waxy alkanols that help preventCholesterol settling out andcloggingyourarteries. Irrespective of the Science, it is generallyaccepted thatthe 'Meditterranean diet' leads to an healthy heart.
Are Islamic doctors in breach of the Hippocratic Oath*1 ? by refusing to recommend a potentially life-saving course of action, drinking a moderate two or three glasses of red wine a day, to save their Muslim patients? .
(Privately my fellowman of medicine admitted that he ought to have recommended drinking red wine wine to many of his patients who are suffering from obesity-related issue, but didnt want to face a jail sentence if an Islamic patient compalined about the promotion of alcohol in their country......
An interesting moral dilemna?. Cultural constraints (the 'chemicalism' and anti-alcohol constraint of Islam preventing an honest man of medicine from potentially saving a patients life.).
Do any forum subscribers face similar constraints in dealing with 'western' patients where prohibition is practiced?.
Regards
Hippocratic Oath>
*1 Written in antiquity, the principles of the HippocraticOath are held sacred by doctors to this day: treat the sick to the best of one's ability, preserve patient privacy, teach the secrets of medicine to the next generation, and so on. "The Oath of Hippocrates," holds the American Medical Association's Code of Medical Ethics (1996 edition), "has remained in Western civilization as an expression of ideal conduct for the physician."
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