Humps store fat and also protect camels’ other tissues from heating due to sun light. It has also been reported that camels’ coats insulate them from heat by reflecting sunlight. This extra fat tissue (about 10-15 kg) provides not only energy in long desert journeys but also water through a biochemical process which leads to the production water molecules (1,111 g of water per 1,000 g of fat converted). It is also noteworthy that sparing a specific part of the body for storing fat and refraining from storage in other tissues provides decreased fat density, thus lessening heat retention due to fat.

Water is scarce in the desert and needs to be stored in large amounts when available. Amazingly, camels can drink up to 150-200 liters of water at once, and yet, after three days, there is no sign of water in their stomachs. Drinking so much water in such a short time could be a problem; this would be like a human drinking 20-40 liters of water in 10 minutes, which would induce water intoxication. The oval shape of camel’s red blood cells, and their ability to swell until double in volume provides plasticity in this situation.

Camels can lose up to 25% of their bodily fluids without showing signs of dehydration. This provides an extra durability against long-term water shortage. For comparison, most mammals can only withstand about 3-4% dehydration; further water loss might lead to cardiac failure due to thickened blood. Another protective property given to camels that allows decreased water loss is that they drop feces that are so dry they can be used as a fuel. For comparison, a dromedary camel loses 2.5 liters of water daily through feces (about just 40-60% water) while cattle lose 20-40 liters.

Camels also regulate sweating in a unique way. Their body temperature does not need to be constant; it can move between 34 and 41 degrees centigrade. They don’t sweat until it is over 40 degrees. These regulations allow them to preserve approximately 5 liters of water per day. A camel’s kidney function is also tightly regulated according to the availability of water. If they don’t drink water for days, urine production is limited to approximately 500g. On the other hand, if water is abundant it could go up to 7 liters. This urine is unusually thick, too – it resembles syrup. Remarkably, camels never run, which would increase transpiration; instead they just amble quickly.

However, dehydration can be still an issue, which will negatively affect the flow of red blood cells. Remarkably, camels have oval red blood cells, which better resist clumping when compared to round, human red blood cells. There are no other mammals with oval red blood cells.

Food is another problem for animals living in the desert, especially for big ones like camels. Interestingly, camels have split lips, which allow them to graze easily. They can eat thorny twigs without any injury. Eating green plants also provide the moisture that they need.

Sand is often a problem, especially during sand storms. Remarkably, camels are equipped with systems that allow them to close theirs nostrils to get protection against wind and sand. In addition, camels have two layers of thick eyelashes, which provide additional protection from the dust. The specific shape of their nostrils allows them to preserve vapor and allows returning it to the body.

Traveling over sand is difficult. Camels are created in a way that allows their four legs to kick in all directions. Remarkably, Camels are equipped with paddy hoofs and two toes to protect them from sinking in the sand and burning of the hot sand. In addition, they have long legs, which keep them further from the hot ground.

Though the modern world seems to have replaced them as a major mode of transportation, they are still widely used in areas such as North Africa.

It seems likely many more remarkable discoveries about camels are on the horizon. Medical researchers are studying how camels function – because these amazing animals might contain a secret which could save human lives.

Link between excess body fat and cancer

It is obvious that camels undergo a rapid cycle of fat storage and destruction. They store large amounts of fat – up to 15 kg. The correlation between excess body fat and various cancers in humans has long been known. For instance, a WCRF report recommended maintaining a BMI of 20-25%, and claimed it as one of the key factors can prevent cancer. However, a connection between obesity and cancer at the molecular level remains largely unknown. Intriguingly, a recent study performed at UT Southwestern Medical Center by Dr. Scherer and his colleagues shows how fat cells induce cancer cells to thrive in the breast, or fatty livers.

They showed that fat cells allow the growth of tumors via the secretion of a variety of extracellular factors. One of the fat cells derived extracellular factor, which is found abundantly in unhealthy fat tissue, is endotrophin. What endotrophin does is cause induction of blood vessels, which feeds tumors; as we gain weight, this increases the chance of getting cancer. The inhibition of endotrophin by antibodies in mice with breast cancer had a remarkable reduction on tumor growth and prevented metastasis to other tissues.

Well, if fat is bad and could increase the chance of cancer, and camels store and destroy fat as a survival mechanism, then how do camels manage the increased risk of cancer? Do they also have another remarkable property that lies on the horizon to be discovered? It’s probable there is a mechanism in camels that protects them from such adverse effects of excess fat. If so, how can we benefit from it to solve one of the biggest hurdles to human health? Some researchers might be close to answering these questions.

Antineoplastons

An interesting study, started back in 1967 by Dr. Burzynski and colleagues, examined the peptides in the urine samples of healthy and cancerous patients. They have found that cancer patients lacked a significant content of peptides in their urine. This finding led to the hypothesis that there might be a protective mechanism against the formation of cancer in the body through peptides. They identified a specific group of peptides found in the urine, later named Antineoplastons that show anti-cancer properties. A treatment scheme was developed through balancing the antineoplaston deficiency in cancer patients to control the abnormal cellular growth. They have tested both in laboratory and on the various cancer patients, and demonstrated some degree of response, albeit with excessive criticism from the scientific community. The mechanism of action of antineoplaston is proposed as functioning as a molecular switch; this activates tumor suppressors and inactivates oncogenes (drivers of cancer formation). Dr. Burzynski, in his clinic at Houston, TX, is still providing treatments to cancer patients with late stages of cancer using Antineoplastons, and claiming that there are survivals with his approach.

The use of compounds identified in the urine could be considered as a kind of urine therapy, which is used as an alternative treatment to cancer that has been historically practiced for different purposes. This reminds me of the prescription of some Bedouins, who got sick when they came to city. They suggested drinking the milk and urine of freely grazing camels at the city’s outskirts. It has been said that they drank this concoction and grew healthy again. This incidence and historical use of urine therapy suggests that camel’s milk and urine could have unique substances that might be effective in the treatment of diseases, maybe even of cancer. An interesting point here is that the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, specifically ordered to drink from animals that are freely gazing, which is also mentioned in the Qur’an, such as in the miracle of the Prophet Salih with the she-camel about which his community was tried: “[S]o leave her to feed in God’s earth” (11:64). This points to not only the consumption of products from freely grazing animals, which is known to affect their nutrition levels and taste, but also to their increased therapeutic potential.

The Holy Qur’an calls for reflection on the camel specifically. I am little bit disappointed that the Houston Zoo does not have such a monumental animal. Contemplation on the camel provides various lessons on the understanding the Maker and Owner of the worlds and living beings, and the superior techniques used in the makeup of animals that live in the harsh conditions of deserts.

References

• 10 Amazing Facts About Camels. Retrieved from http://news.softpedia.com/news/10-Amazing-Facts-About-Camels-68843.shtml on April, 14, 2013.

• 20 Amazing Facts About Camels. Retrieved from http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/news-expressive-faces-camels?image=1#mzJyLiKcQPMoM1tD.99 on April, 14, 2013.

• Facts About Camels. Retrieved from http://lifestyle.iloveindia.com/lounge/facts-about-camels-1654.html on April, 14, 2013.

• Camel. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camel on April, 14, 2013.

• Excess Body Fat Causes Cancer. • The WCRF report, 2007. Retrieved from http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/87350.php on April, 21, 2013.

• Finding – and fighting – the fat that fuels cancer. Retrieved from http://www.utsouthwestern.edu/newsroom/news-releases/year-2013/feb/endotrophin-scherer.html on April, 21, 2013.

• Jiyoung Park and Philipp E. Scherer. Adipocyte-derived endotrophin promotes malignant tumor progression. J Clin Invest. 2012;122(11):4243–4256. doi:10.1172/JCI63930.

• Stanislaw R. Burzynski. The present state of antineoplaston research. Integr Cancer Ther. 2004 Mar;3(1):47-58.

• Urine Therapy. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urine_therapy on April 22, 2013.

• Ravi: Enes. Tirmizi, Tibb 6, (2043)

One night, when sleeping, a man heard sounds on his roof. There were loud footsteps and he wondered what could be happening. He shouted out the window, Who is it? Is there a genie on my roof? An extraordinary, mysterious man looked into the window from above and said, We are going around by night, searching.

What are you searching for? the man asked.

Camels, he replied.

You must be joking! he exclaimed. Youre looking for camels on my roof?!

Thats right, camels. Just as you seek God on His throne. Is this so very different?

It was this and no more.

No one saw the man on the roof again.

He vanished like a genie in flight.

But did he not make his point about the madness of man,

That a camel which flies is no crazier than he

Who seeks God on the throne of delight?

Silence lies in the ocean,

While words flow through the river.

The ocean waits for you, do not wait for the river.

Look to the ocean and watch its message,

It will come, it will come

Death Makes Everybody Equal

A solitary dervish had taken up his station in the corner of a desert, when a king passed by. Inasmuch as contentment is the enjoyment of a kingdom, the dervish did not raise his head, nor show the king the least attention and, inasmuch as sovereignty is regal pomp, the king took offense, and said: “The tribe of ragged mendicants resemble brute beasts, and have neither grace nor good manners.” The vizier stepped up to the dervish, and said: “O generous man! The sovereign of this land has passed by you; why did you not do him homage, and discharge the duty of obeisance?” He answered and said, “Speak to your sovereign, saying: Expect service from that person who will court your favor; let him moreover know that the purpose of kings is the protection of the people; it is not the purpose of the people to be the subjects of kings. It is for their benefit that the kings glory is exalted, yet the king is but the shepherd of the poor. The sheep are not intended for the service of the shepherd, but the shepherd is

appointed to tend the sheep. Today you may observe one man proud from prosperity, another with a heart sore from adversity; have patience for a few days ’till the dust of the grave can consume the brain of that vain and foolish head. When the record of destiny comes into effect, the distinction of liege and subject disappears. Were a person to turn up the dust of the deceased, he could not distinguish that of the rich man from the poor.”

These words made a strong impression upon the king; he said, “Ask me for something.” The wise man replied, “What I desire is that you will not trouble me again!” The king said, “Favor me with a piece of advice.” He answered, “Now that the good things in life are in your hands, attend to them; wealth and dominion are passing from one hand into another.” 

The Unjust do not Remain Unpunished

A story is told of a profiteer who bought firewood from the poor at a low price, and sold it to the rich at a profit. A good and holy man went up to him and said, “You are a snake, which bites everybody it sees, or an owl, which digs up and fouls the place where it nests. Although your injustice may pass unpunished among us, it cannot escape God, the knower of secrets. Be not unjust with the people of this earth, so that their complaints may not rise up to heaven.” They say the unjust man was offended at these words, turned his face away from the holy man, and showed him no civility. But then, as it is expressed in the Qur’an: He, the glorified God, overtook him amidst his sins. One night, a spark from his kitchen fire flew onto a stack of wood, and caused a fire that burnt up all his belongings, laying him up in bed, tormenting him with the ashes of Hell. The good and holy man happened to be passing and saw that the profiteer was remarking to his friends, “I do not understand how this fire fell upon my dwelling.” The good man said, “It was from the smoke of the hearts of the poor! Guard against the smoke of the sore-afflicted heart, for a sore hidden away will at last gather to a head. Give no heart pain so long as you can avoid it, for one sigh may set the whole world into flames.”

It is said that the following inscription was engraved upon Kai-Khosraus* crown: “For how many years, and for what a continuance of ages, shall mankind walk over my head on this earth? As the kingdom came to me, from hand to hand, so it shall pass into the hands of others.”

* Kai Khosrau was one of the Seljuk Sultans of Anatolia, 1192-1196.