On my sixteenth birthday, my mother gave me a leather-bound journal with my name embossed in gold on the front cover. I stared blankly at the blank pages with pale pinstripe lines traveling end to end, crowned with a fleur-de-lis watermark.

I sat in my oversized wicker butterfly chair, my legs crisscrossed tightly and forming a natural table, trying to think of something to write, only to end up tossing the journal on the top shelf of my closet, waiting for dust to cover it.

When the pandemic first made headlines, I thought, “now what?” I had already been through so much.

Fewer than four years before, my husband had died from pancreatic cancer. Initially, his prognosis was grim. He was given one year to live, an overwhelming reality for a man in the prime of his life. Five weeks later, he collapsed and passed away in our living room in the middle of the night.

There is a type of silence that permeates the air in the aftermath of a tragedy. It’s palpable. In those first few minutes, that silence engulfed me. I felt a pain as if something had been physically drawn out of me. All alone, I kissed him for the last time before dropping my head and crying, “What do I do, now?”

I needed to find a strength that was not in my nature. We had three children. My priority was never to let this define their character, never to use their father’s death as a crutch or have it hang like an anchor around their necks.

Losing my spouse left me confused. How does the coffee maker work? Is today trash day? I had not realized how much I depended upon him. It’s not that I was subservient to him—quite the opposite. We were equals. But I had gotten lazy. It was easier to let him handle it all. Honestly, the right hand didn’t know what the left was doing. I didn’t know the individual passwords to our accounts, making it impossible to pay the bills. Without a paper trail, I didn’t know what bills we owed. I’m embarrassed to say I was unaware of the amount of money we had in our savings account. I found out it wasn’t very much.

From that day forward, I busied myself, often to the point of exhaustion. I functioned at high speed; I had a job to do. As a single mother, time rapidly became my enemy. I was trying to cram too many things into a day, coming up short, always late to games and social events. Notorious for being on the phone during my kids’ games, multi-tasking was my mantra. Everything got my full 25% attention. I took pride in walking the dog while talking on the phone and still listening to a podcast. My mind was always somewhere else, daydreaming of a different situation.

Even if you have never lost someone, you can imagine how it feels. We have all seen enough Hallmark movies. What I was not prepared for was getting smacked when I least expected it. There I was standing in the local market’s produce section when our wedding song played over the loudspeaker. Suddenly, I burst into gut-wrenching sobs, so severe I had to rush out of the store, pushing my way through the sea of pitying stares. I still had to go back inside because I needed milk and eggs.

Eventually, without his income to support us, my children and I had to move back into my childhood home. My mother had passed away years ago, but I still looked for her to protect us. It was a rough time in our lives. We yearned for life to be the way it had been.

It took all three years, but we healed. I went back to working full time. Our aching hearts lessened; this house took on our personalities. In February, my daughter celebrated her sixteenth birthday in grand style with a party. My son had graduated college and launched his new life. I felt joy for the first time, realizing we had come through that dark time, and we were back on track.

Then the pandemic hit. Like some at first, I believed it was just the flu—that it couldn’t hurt me.

Major work events were canceled, cities went into lockdown, the numbers staggering. Friends were testing positive. Some were getting sick. I was laid off from my job. My oldest son moved back home, putting his life on hold, and at-home virtual learning became a real thing. I felt like we were spiraling backward, our arms and legs flailing. Once again, I was overcome with a fear I hadn’t felt for years. The ground beneath us that we had worked so hard to strengthen was giving way.

I was living from my paycheck to paycheck, with very little savings as a cushion.

On the evening news, a woman about my age, with long blonde hair and blue eyes, was interviewed in her car while waiting in a food line, her kids in the back seat. “I have never needed to do anything like this before,” she told the interviewer.

The resemblance to me was uncanny. Our closeness to that situation made me quiver. I knew the look on my face registered my horror just by my kids’ frightened expressions.

“We’re okay,” I reassured them.

The pandemic wasn’t the only crisis looming over me. Without carpools, activities, and events, I was faced with an abundance of time. I didn’t know what to do with myself.

I embraced being able to spend time with my children, and they had to spend time with me, trapped on this island together. We streamed shows and played games—board and VR, which frankly made me want to throw up. We laughed. More than that, we talked, we talked about their Dad and the old house and this house. I was relieved to hear they liked this house just as much. We remembered the fun times in this house with their grandmother. I had never taken the time to sit quietly and listen to them before.

I was not the type to put together a puzzle, nor could I create international meals or strive to bake the perfect sourdough bread. I did like to garden.

Although everyone thought I was crazy, I was inspired to build a vegetable garden on our hill. The hillside was transformed from a downward slope to terraced, level areas. We built raised planting beds, filled them with soil, planted seeds in neat rows, and marked each row with hand-painted signs nailed onto old pieces of wood.

Every night my body ached; my arms were sore. The sun had tanned my skin in odd patterns depending on what clothes I wore. My manicured nails were becoming those of a gardener with the paint chipped, broken, and cracked. When I was putting gas into the tiller, some dripped on my hand, removing what little polish was left. I soaked a rag and finished the job.

And yet, I always felt fearful of what could happen to us. Would we end up in long food lines? I found myself up nights, bombarded by a litany of what-ifs: What if we get sick? What if we become homeless? What if? What if? Always circling back to the same belief: if only my husband were here, he would know what to do.

My mother used to say, “if the same thing keeps happening, it’s because you didn’t learn your lesson.”

One hot afternoon while I was sitting outside, my sixteen-year-old daughter handed me that old journal of mine. “Here, I found this in my room,” she said.

Having forgotten all about its existence, I opened it to the first page. In my mother’s handwriting was this:

You are stronger than you think you are.
When you experience and survive your biggest fear, you will become stronger. If what you thought would break you didn’t break you, then you will be prepared for another storm.

The pandemic was the perfect storm.

The words my mother had written may have meant nothing to me when I first read them, but on that afternoon, they meant everything to me. What were the chances of this journal showing up?

I sat in my backyard, without a to-do list at hand, without the responsibility of watching kids in the pool. I. Simply. Sat. In. My. Yard. Quiet.

There were hummingbirds, large ones that sounded like helicopters as they hovered in my backyard. Was I that hummingbird, continually moving, only stopping for a second to eat?

When you can’t go out to dinner, you can’t go to people’s houses, and friends can’t come to your home, the only place you can go is inside. And that’s precisely where I went, inside my mind. The scariest place I’ve ever been. Stopping frightened me. On the outside, I appeared strong, but why not on the inside?

I had already experienced and survived my biggest fear with my husband’s death and losing our house. I asked myself over and over, “Am I prepared for this storm? Am I strong enough?”

That’s when it hit me. Trust in yourself. Your strength has been inside you all along. You have it in you to thrive.

If I hadn’t been forced to be quiet, I never would have heard what I needed to hear or learn what I needed to know or take stock of myself. I’m not naïve to think bad things won’t happen again, but now I have the tools to handle them.

Like my garden, it was time to plant seeds and sow a new life for when all this passes and things return to normal.

This pandemic has given me a gift, a second chance. I opened the journal to a clean page and wrote one sentence:

I am present.

Athlete’s foot is a frequent infection that millions of people suffer from annually. I once had it during my military service where we had to wear boots almost an entire day. Once during a noon intercession, I performed my ablutions to pray and I placed my feet under the sunlight to dry them. I was also hoping that ultraviolet rays from the sun would be good for the infection. Soon, flies swarmed in between my toes. When I could not bear the excessive itching, I tried to kill the flies until I was stopped by a friend who reminded me of the great sage Bediuzzaman’s comments where he called flies “cleaning workers.” At that time, I also remembered Prophet Muhammad’s (peace be upon him) words on flies. So, I patiently endured the nuisance, and repeated the same procedure for the next three or four days. Eventually, my feet were healed and there was no trace of the fungi.

In one of his very interesting hadiths, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, is reported to have said the following about flies: “If a fly falls into your drink, dip it into your drink, then throw it away, for on one of its wings is a disease, and on the other is a cure. It dips the wing with the disease to protect itself” [1]. This hadith has been a reason for much controversy mainly due to germ disease theory.  According to Jonathan C. Brown, “even before modern medicine, the Hadith of the Fly was raising skeptical eyebrows and prompting Sunni defensiveness as early as the writings of Ibn Qutayba (d. 276/889)” [2]. Brown also mentions that this hadith “could be false or it could be true, since scientists used the flesh of a snake to help prepare antidotes to its poison” [3].

Before the microscope was invented it was impossible to define microbes or talk about the anatomy or microbiology of flies as we can today. However, the introduction of experimentation and observation as an important scientific method with the Renaissance served as a turning point in Western scientific revolution. Thus, the “proof-based medicine” conception that relies on experimentation and observation emerged as a precursor to today’s medicinal and scientific research. The importance of perceptions that rely on causes relating to the material world in persuading the human mind cannot be denied. It is harder to make people believe in something unless they are provided with concrete results that appeal to our five senses. We should not rush to deny any claim solely based upon our preconceptions and prior knowledge without doing any research about it; rather, we should pass our judgment on it after experimentation and observation.

Some people may automatically reject the idea that when a fly falls in our food or drink that we should immerse this microbe-carrying insect completely and they may say that this would not eliminate the microbes. Indeed, it may sound reasonable to assume that this disgusting insect that feeds on all sorts of dirt would cause only diseases. If you have an ample supply of food or water and if you do not have the stomach for it, you can of course refrain from eating or drinking such a food or drink. But, you can hardly advise someone who has very little water or food in a desert or at the time of famine to throw away what they have because of a fly.

We should examine different types of flies in laboratory settings using the method of experimentation and observation. First of all, it is very difficult to prove that someone can contract an illness from eating food in which a fly had fallen into although he or she had immersed that fly completely in that food. If it is proven that someone becomes ill due to a fly’s alighting in their food, then strong objections can be raised. If it is said that there many diseases caused by flies, no one will deny it. The point is not whether flies carry germs, but whether this advice for being protected from the germs carried by flies is correct or not. As a matter of fact, the advice by the Prophet seeks to protect us from diseases that may be caused by germs carried by flies. The great scholar Bediuzzaman’s words on flies also give us an alternative perspective to consider about these “tiny birds”:

“…Flies are dutiful about cleaning away noxious substances or germs that cause disease. By sucking up and absorbing harmful germs, they destroy them, and they cause noxious or poisonous substances to change into other harmless forms, thus preventing the spread of many contagious diseases. A sign that they are both laborers for health and cleansing operatives and chemists, serving many instances of wisdom, is the fact that they exist in extremely great numbers. For the things that are valuable and beneficial are multiplied.” [4]

The hadith of the Prophet and Bediuzzaman’s commentary encourage us to explore more about flies and whether they can be a source of healing in any way.

Flies are very ubiquitous on earth. There are approximately 125,000 species of flies, but only ten species live in our homes and are of concern to us. They feed on garbage and organic waste materials that act as a breeding ground for microbes such as bacteria, fungi, and viruses. The female fly lays down more than 100 eggs in the dung of some animals or in garbage. After one day, the larva emerges to feed on the surrounding organic materials. In two weeks, they become full-grown flies. In four generations, one female fly can lay 1.5 million eggs, but fortunately the majority die due to weather circumstances or become food for birds, reptiles, amphibians, and other insects. A fly can live for 60 days at most.

Given the ecological balance in nature, one comes to accept that there should be species that will remove all sorts of organic waste, garbage, dead animals or plants, and similar things by eating them. Houseflies feed on the rotting corpses of animals while female horseflies suck blood. How can flies, which act as health workers that are charged with the duty of cleaning the world, digest so many diverse amounts of garbage and waste?

Flies get their nourishment differently from other animals. What other animals do for digestion is done by flies outside their bodies. They do not have teeth-like structures in their mouths in order to chew solid, dry food and therefore have to turn such food into liquid form or split it into 0.45-mm or smaller pieces. In this liquid form, flies can easily suck up their food using their suitably shaped mouths. To do this, flies vomit a saliva-like liquid, containing enzymes and acids, and that disintegrates the solid food into something that can easily be digested in a couple of seconds. In this process, some of the microbes in that waste food can be disintegrated while the rest will be sent to the stomach.

These foods and microbes taken inside in the form of vomit are sent to a sac called a “crop” if they are not small enough to go through the digestive tract. Flies produce fresh saliva regularly during which the vomit moves between their mouths and crops. Eventually, the sufficiently liquefied food is sent to the stomach which contains enzymes and acidic content as well as partially disintegrated microorganisms.

What does scientific research tell us?

Based on the theory that flies must have remarkable antimicrobial defenses and resistance to survive the bacteria from rotting dung, meat, and fruit, a team at the department of biological sciences at Macquarie University in Australia set out to identify those antibacterial properties.

“Our research is a small part of a global research effort for new antibiotics, but we are looking where we believe no one has looked before,” said Joanne Clarke, who presented the group’s findings at the Australian Society for Microbiology Conference in Melbourne.

Clarke’s research showed that flies produce their own antibiotics, and this was tested on four different fly species. Such research may lead to better treatments for human infections from Escherichia coli and other virulent bacteria even, perhaps, Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

Upon preliminary results, a global pharmaceutical company decided to support the research over the next six months by trying to isolate antibiotic compounds from the material collected from the flies. The research team is trying to identify the specific antibacterial compounds. As antibiotics that will eventually be invented and chemically synthesized come from the body surface of flies, not from other fungi or bacteria, it is believed that any gene that gives resistance to microbes will not be easily transferred to pathogens and the new antibiotic form will have longer and more effective treatment duration [5].

Later, Russian doctors had developed interest in this topic and observed that flies contain many substances that can be more effective than traditional medications and certain fly larvae have very strong therapeutic effects [6].

Noting that flies should be kept away from hospitals, Professor Juan Alvarez Bravo at the University of Tokyo expressed his support for such research, saying, “But soon we will witness a rapid treatment for many diseases, which consists of extracts from flies” [7].

Some researchers at Auburn University of the United States discovered a protein in the fly’s saliva which can accelerate the lengthy process of healing wounds and chronic skin cracking. Entomologists Ed and Mary Cupp managed to isolate the protein which houseflies inject into their prey to increase blood flow in the skin of their prey. Mary Cupp and surgeon Steven Swaim demonstrated that surgical incisions, skin ulceration, and diabetic foot lesions treated with solutions that combine antibiotics and this protein heal faster and stronger than incisions treated with antibiotics alone [8, 9].

In another study, it was found that epithelial cells forming the inner layers of the front and back intestines of the fly protect it from the bacteria it swallows thanks to a special cuticular lining, and in this way, bacteria never directly touch the intestinal epithelium and cannot give any damage to it. In this study, it was noted that people nurtured a radical approach to flies and that fly control has been abused for the sake of human health, suggesting that flies may be the source of novel germicides that make use of their antimicrobial digestive enzymes, lysozyme, and antimicrobial peptides [10].

Viruses cause many diseases in cattle, sheep, and birds. These diseases include encephalitis, aphthous fever (foot and mouth diseases), and duck plague which can be transferred to people through infected animals. Some crops such as potatoes, tomatoes, bananas, and sugarcane can also be destroyed by viral infections.

Flies carry the viruses of many diseases which are consequently transferred to man’s food, drink, and body. Of these viral diseases are common flu, measles, mumps, chickenpox, warts, yellow fever, infectious liver diseases, some cases of paralysis, some types of cancer, and some chronic diseases of the central nervous system.

El-Naggar, Zaghloul, from Egypt, indicates that some of the disease-causing viruses may directly infect living beings and cause damage to their cells, while there is a type of virus which infects bacteria cells known as “bacteriophage.” These viruses, which can kill the bacteria they infect in a short time, are known as “virulent bacteriophage.” Those viruses that do not kill the bacteria they infect are called “temperate bacteriophage” [11].

After a bacteriophage infects a bacterium, more than 100 viruses are released from that bacterium and each of these viruses can infect new bacteria. The spreading of infection may continue until all vulnerable bacteria cells die. After it was discovered that bacteriophages are parasites of bacteria, they started to be used in treating the diseases caused by bacteria. However, their use in this manner declined after the discovery of antibiotics. Yet, the interest in phage treatment was revived after the emergence of bacterial resistance to antibiotics [12].

Researchers from Stanford University announced that they found a substance in flies that can improve the human immune system [13].

The work by Rehab Mohammed Atta from the Microbiology and Immunology Department, National Research Center, Cairo, Egypt, is quite remarkable [14]. In this research, the extracts taken separately from the left and right wings of flies were used against the bacteria and fungi calculated on nutrient “agar” media in the laboratory. It was demonstrated there was both bacterial and fungal growth for the left wing extract plates while no bacterial or fungal growth was reported for the right ones.

Given the fact that the garbage and rotting corpses on which flies feed from contain numerous dangerous bacteria, it is quite reasonable that it contains antibacterial materials necessary for its survival. In this case, the fly’s needs might be of service as sources of antibiotics that can prevent epidemics among human beings, and this may be the reason why they were created in the first place: not to be a source of nuisance but a source of healing for us.

Aj-Taili, et al., from the department of medical microbiology, Qassim University in Saudi Arabia, conducted an experiment using water, honey, and various fruit juices in different cups. They found no germ in the solution in which the whole body of fly was immersed while the solution in which only one wing of the fly was dipped indicated the presence of germs [15].

In sum, we can say that antibacterial materials produced in the bodies of flies protect them against the microbes in their environments and that these microbes can prevent epidemics among human beings. At the very least, this topic deserves in-depth research. Atta’s study confirms the virtue of the hadith that says, “The best way to release this vital antidote is to dip the fly in a liquid because these substances are concentrated on the outer surface of the fly body and wing.” Abduldaem al-Kaheel refers to this study in his website: “This is logical because the fly has a lot of harmful bacteria on the outside of her body and therefore in order to continue in her life, it should also carry anti-bacterial materials; these materials were furnished by God to protect it from viruses and diseases.” In the light of these studies, the need for conducting more research for obtaining antibiotics from the right wing of the fly is clear [16].

References

1. Abu Dawud, At’imah, 49. Also see Bukhari, Tib, 57, Bed’u al-Khalk 17; Ibn Majah, Tib, 31, Nasa’i, Far’, 11.
2. Brown, Jonathan A. C. 2009. Hadith: Muhammad’s Legacy in the Medieval and Modern World, p. 264.
3. Ibid. p. 255.
4. Nursi, Bediuzzaman Said. 2008. The Gleams. The Light, Inc. p. 376.
5. Danny Kingsley, ABC Science Online, 1 October 2002, The new buzz on antibiotics. Clarke, J., Gillings, M. and Beattie, A. (2002). Hypothesis-driven drug discovery. Microbiology Australia, pp. 8–10.
6. Petersburg State University, (2006). The fly effect: Russian Scientists Invent new medicine with the help of flies.
7. Bravo, J. A. (1994). The ointment in the fly: antibiotics. New antibiotic derived from a common fly. The Economist (US).
8. Ed and Mary Cupp (2005). Protein in Fly Saliva Speeds Healing of Incisions Wounds. Auburn University. R Am Ex Ars Medica, Inc., 7:23.
9. Protein in Fly Saliva Speeds Healing of Incisions, Wounds 20-Jan-2005. www.newswise.com/articles/protein-in-fly-saliva-speeds-healing-of-incisions-wounds
10. Nayduch, D. and Burrus, R.G. (2017). Flourishing in Filth: House Fly–Microbe Interactions Across Life History. Special Collection: Filth Fly–Microbe Interactions. Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 2017, Vol. 110, No. 1.
11. El-Naggar, Zaghloul, (2010). Housefly Falls into One’s Drink! 09 September 2010. www.quranandscience.com/quran-science/sunnah-science/204-housefly-falls-into-ones-drink-274
12. Aydogan, D.Y., Hadimli, H.H. (2016). Bakteriyofaj Tedavisi (Bacteriophage Treatment), Etlik Vet. Mikrobiyol. Derg.; 27 (1): 38–47.
13. Stanford University Medical Center, 2007. Fruit Fly Insight Could Lead to New Vaccines. Science Daily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/03/070308220904.htm
14. Atta, R. M. (2014): Microbiological Studies on Fly Wings (Musca domestica) Where Disease and Treat. World Journal of Medical Sciences 11 (4): 486–489.
15. Aj-Taili, S.I., A.A.R. Al-Misnid and K.D. Al-Uteybi, (2002). Wing One and the Other Disease Carrying the Cure. Qassim University. Danny Kingsley.
16. Abduldaem al-Kaheel, 1995. New facts: fly have a cure, www.kaheel7.com/eng.

The Papaya is an exotic and delicious fruit that has recently been making its way into some doctor prescriptions due to its abundance of nutrients and medicinal components. It is a sweet and musk-scented fruit with a shape that resembles a large pear. When ripened, it has a soft texture and a yellowish-orange color. The fleshy part of a Papaya is consumed by peeling off the outer skin and slicing it to pieces, similar to that of a mango. It is more delicious if it is cooled a little after this cutting process. It may taste a little different at first since it is not as sweet as some other fruits are, but one can often get used to its unique taste in time.

Considering the total amount of tropical fruit production in the world, papaya comes in third with 15.4%, ranking after mango with 52.9%, and pineapple with 26.6%. Interestingly enough, Christopher Columbus called papaya the “Fruit of the Angels” when he first tasted it. The Papaya plant begins to bear fruit within three years after being planted, and today can be grown in almost all seasons of the year with its peak season extending from early summer to fall. Papayas are not resistant to the cold and only naturally grow in tropical climates, however it is possible to grow them in non-tropical regions as well by using green houses.

In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the number of scientific studies done on tropical fruits and vegetables in general. The particular reason for this interest is the very fact that tropical fruits are endowed with very special substances that strengthen the immune system. While warm weather and abundant precipitation in tropical climates can provide a suitable environment for the reproduction of germs, and thus epidemics, fruits that boost the immune system are welcome as a very important means to cure and stave off these diseases. Evidently, Earth is fashioned like a special pharmacy for us that is full of remedies of all kinds of different shapes and sizes.

As one of these potential cures that is continuing to receive growing scientific interest, the papaya has already been used for a long time in traditional medicine against asthma, skin and stomach ulcers, intestinal parasitic-worm diseases, eczema, diabetes, and various fever conditions. In addition, research in recent years indicated that this fruit played a positive role at healing of wounds, treating cardiovascular diseases, cancer, fungal diseases, malaria, and Dengue fever—a viral epidemic peculiar to hot climates that is transmitted through mosquitoes and characterized by severe joint and muscle aches. It was also found that the papaya is beneficial against high levels of lipids in blood and sudden decreases in blood sugar.

 Papaya fruits contain substances with medical benefits such as antioxidants, beta-carotene, vitamins A, B, and C, potassium, magnesium, pantothenic acid, folic acid, and fibers, which are very significant for the normal functioning of the body and are blessed with curative properties. All of these vitamins and minerals are effective in strengthening one’s metabolism. Papayas can help reduce the risk of colon cancer thanks to its contents of folic acid, vitamin C, beta-carotene and vitamin E. 

If taken regularly, it speeds up the metabolism and allows the burning of fats for energy production. The burning of fats has many key benefits for a person, especially in relation to their cardiovascular health. Additionally, the fact that they are rich in vitamin A helps to prevent lung problems. People prone to lung cancer can consider adding this fruit to their daily diet.

The papaya is a long sustaining food since it is one of the few fruits with a very high fiber content, thus making it the perfect fruit for those who wish to lose weight. Papayas help the human body to fight against diseases thanks to its vitamin content, which is also important for maintaining skin health.

A digestive enzyme called “papain” has been discovered in papayas. Papain turned out to be effective in treating wounds and allergies, especially digestive system problems. One study indicated that, thanks to their anti-inflammatory and immune-modulator properties, papayas can be useful against many chronic diseases such as osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Strengthening the immune system is beneficial in order to help prevent infections such as the flu, a very timely concern considering much of the world is still grappling with the Covid-19 pandemic. The enzyme “chymopapain,” although found in lesser amounts, also has similar effects.

Another study indicated that these enzymes, which also help with protein digestion, are beneficial against corneal deformations in the eye and with the treatment of insect stings. Research has shown that adding papaya to our diet is a great idea for reducing the risk of macular (yellow spot) degeneration, which occurs in the eyes as we age and can cause as much damage as eventual vision loss.

Inside the papaya are numerous black seeds that resemble black pepper seeds. These seeds are very useful for inducing detoxification of the body. It is known that these seeds are beneficial against certain kidney diseases along with infections of E. coli, Salmonella, and Staphylococcus. Additionally, the juice extracted from its seeds is effective for clearing the liver and getting rid of intestinal parasites. The seeds can be stored via drying and then consumed by crushing them into powder. This can be added to salads or consumed as a side dish.

The most important cause of strokes is cholesterol oxidation. Cholesterol begins to accumulate in the walls of blood vessels when it gets oxidized, and this accumulation can lead to paralysis due to plaques that form and hinder blood flow to the brain. Since papayas are rich in antioxidants they help to prevent cardiovascular diseases caused by atherosclerosis and diabetes by preventing the oxidation of cholesterol and lowering its level in blood stream,

Some studies suggest that papayas increase the risk of miscarriage in pregnant women when eaten excessively. The details of what causes this condition are still under research. Apart from this specific risk, there seems to be no known drawback for consuming papayas. However, it is common wisdom that one should enact balance and moderation, even when consuming beneficial things. It is also helpful to search for cures from multiple sources instead of relying upon just one. Perhaps serious and extensive studies in the future will unearth further interesting facts about other blessed fruits that are endowed with different curative properties.

lllness is a part of our lives; but thankfully we are not left without remedy as long as we know how to search for it. As a matter of fact, the search for remedies for the troubles we’ve had has been going on since the day we were created, and the accumulated knowledge has emerged under different treatment methods. There are many applications known as traditional medicine, alternative medicine or complementary medicine and used in the prevention and treatment of some diseases. Acupuncture, hypnosis, cupping therapy, larval therapy, reflexology, ozone therapy, phytotherapy and hirudotherapy (leech therapy) can be considered in this category.

Sometimes, what may appear to be the most unlikely thing might be a source of healing, like medicinal leeches. Today, leech therapy is widely used in many countries, including the US, Canada, Germany, France, and the Netherlands; in Europe only, over 100 million leeches are used in treatment annually. Hirudotherapy has been known since the ancient times. Scholars such as Galen (130–201 AD) and Avicenna (980–1037 AD) benefited from leeches for treatment.

Although there are about 700 species of leech across 10 different genera, ranging from the Hirudinea (leeches) group to the annular worms (Annelida) branch, not all of them can be used as a means of treatment. Hirudo verbana, Hirudo medicinalis, Hirudo orientalis and Hirudo sucki genus, which are called medicinal leeches, are generally used for treatment [1]. Some leeches can cause Hirudiniasis disease, which often results in inflammation of the skin, ulceration, and continuous bleeding in forest villagers.

Hirudotherapy cannot be used arbitrarily. Leeches that attach to acupuncture points suck 20–60 cc blood for 10–20 minutes. The main effect of the treatment is not the removal of blood by the leech, but the secretion of some substances by them while sucking blood. Medicinal leeches such as H. medicinalis and H. verbana help in the treatment of various diseases such as varicose veins, reconstructive surgery, wound healing, migraines, fibromyalgia, retinopathy, osteoarthritis, cellulitis, and especially muscle and joint pain.

Samreen et al. treated a patient with peripheral artery disease, which can lead to death as a result of blockage of the arteries in the arms and legs, with Hirudotherapy through a six-month treatment regimen with one-week intervals [2]. In regard to kidney disease that develops due to diabetes, there are also animal studies investigating the effects of the protein named Hirudin that is released from glands in the mouth of the leech that prevents blood clotting [3].

In recent scientific studies, it is emphasized that leeches used in treatment must come from hygienic production farms. Leeches collected randomly from natural environments may pose a danger depending on the condition of the region and the presence of heavy metals in the waters where they live, even if they are a type of medicinal leech. For example, Keser et al. stated that leeches collected from Karagol, Adiyaman, Turkey carried heavy metals such as cadmium, copper, manganese, nickel, lead, and zinc [4]. In another study, it was stated that leech therapy may cause skin conditions such as cutaneous lymphoid hyperplasia [5].

Leeches inject a secretion that contains about 20 different bioactive molecules while they suck a patient’s blood [6]. These substances have pain relieving, anti-coagulation, and thrombocyte aggregation features that prevent coagulation cells from collapsing and clumping. In addition, beneficial effects such as blood pressure balancing, acting as an antidepressant, antibacterial, and antioxidant have led to the widespread use of leech therapy (see Table 1). In addition to all these benefits, it is claimed that it also has muscle relaxant and nerve cell regenerative effects.

Table 1: Major bioactive molecules in leech secretion.

It has been reported that the active polypeptides found in the secretion of leeches are beneficial for fighting off inflammation in the cells lining blood vessels. Lu et al. also reported that leech liquid extract prevents the death of macrophage cells in the immune system and prolongs their lives, prevents foam formation, and acts like a drug against arteriosclerosis [7]. This extract obtained from leeches has been shown in experiments to prevent excessive cholesterol entry into vascular cells through the mechanism of Lipoxygenase 1 and Lipoxygenase XR-a, and it has been suggested that the severity of arteriosclerosis can be reduced by this way.

The area of the body that the leech will attach itself to should be thoroughly cleaned with antiseptics before leech therapy begins. The leech leaves this area of the skin after sucking blood for 10-20 minutes until its weight increases 2–8 times by absorbing water and salt from the blood. The leech that does not fall off on its own should never be pulled out by hand. After the leech falls, bleeding may continue for 4-10 hours as a leak. In some patients, skin side effects such as itching, small bubble formation, necrosis, and allergic reaction may occur. If the leech does not leave the place it sucked even after 20 minutes then 10% tartaric acid, saline, or vinegar should be used to coax the leech to release itself.

Medicine has begun to rediscover leech therapy, which has been considered as an outdated treatment method for years, but which has proven useful in the treatment of many diseases as a result of scientific studies.

This tiny creature is blessed with a razor-sharp jaw. With this jaw, the leech sucks our blood without hurting us by numbing it first and helps to empty the long-remaining dirty blood in the skin’s capillaries. Meanwhile, it injects around 20 bioactive beneficial molecules into our blood. These creatures, which we underestimate when we see them, are given the mechanism to produce a special local anesthetic and to produce anticoagulants to prevent our blood from clotting. If the leech does not undergo vomiting after sucking blood, then it can survive for six months without eating or drinking anything else. After absorbing this blood, the serum of the blood is separated in the organism of the leech (a process which is only possible with centrifugation in laboratories), stored in special pockets, and used as food when needed. Special bacteria called P. hirudinus, found in the intestines of leeches have the task to ensure that the blood absorbed by the leech is used efficiently. Long-term studies are needed to reveal how leech therapy can be curative in which diseases and how often it should be applied. Hirudotherapy is a treatment method that has less side effects than existing drug treatments; it is natural, economical and practical.

Notes

1. Syed Hasan, Tanwir Alam, Leech therapy in traditional medicine: Hirudotherapy, 2015.
2. Samreen Ilyas et al. Management of tasallube sharain (Peripheral artery disease) by hirudotherapy: A case report. Advances in Integrative Medicine. 2019.
3. Hongwu Wang et al. The effects of a hirudin/liposome complex on a diabetic nephropathy rat model. Bmc Compl Alternative Med, 19 (1), 118 2019 Jun 6.
4. Gonca Keser, Yusuf Topak, Yusuf Sevgiler. Concentrations of some heavy metal and macroelements in sediment, water, macrophyte species, and leech (hirudo sulukii n. sp.) from the Kara Lake, Adıyaman, Turkey. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 192 (2), 75 2020 Jan 22.
5. Maryam Sadat Sadati et al. Cutaneous lymphoid hyperplasia ınduced by hirudo medicinalis (leeches). J Complement Integr Med, 16 (4) 2019 Dec 4.
6. Ali K. Sig et al. Medicinal leech therapy-an overall perspective. Integr Med Res, 6 (4), 337-343 Dec 2017.
7. Lu J, Sun L. Active polypeptides from Hirudo inhibit endothelial cell imflammation. J Brobha, 2019.

The motion of the stars and celestial bodies result in inaudible sounds, reflecting the mathematical harmony of the macrocosm. In the animal kingdom, we see that music emerged long before humans did. Archaeologists have uncovered what they think were ancient flutes as old as 43,000 years and musical notations as old as 4,000 years. Music has always played a part in humankind’s development (Andrews 2018). There is not one place in the world that does not have some kind of musical culture. This scheme of cosmic music suggests that music is a universal language. However, many have questioned why, “as neither the enjoyment nor capacity of producing music notes are faculties of the least use to man… they must be ranked among the most mysterious with which he is endowed (Darwin 1871).”

Why is it that whale and human music have so much in common? How is it that music reaches deeper, past our auditory cortex, to activate our limbic system, which our emotions are connected to? One can thus ponder the biological purpose of music since it does not contribute directly towards our survival. Some people, such as Dr. Steven Pinker, suggest that music is merely “auditory cheesecake,” a by-product of our motivational systems that give us pleasure and release dopamine; “as far as biological cause and effect are concerned, music is useless … it could vanish from our species and the rest of our lifestyle would be virtually unchanged” (Leutwyler 2001).

Looking back at history allows us to see that music was implemented as a healing tool for centuries. Hippocrates played music to treat mental health patients as early as 400 BC. In the Bible, David played the harp to heal King Saul of a bad spirit. Physicians such as Al-Farabi (Alpharabius), Al-Razi (Rhazes), and Ibn Sina (Avicenna) passed on their ideas of music therapy that Ottoman physicians developed further into therapeutic systems. Muslim scientists traced ancient musical theories of the Hellenistic sources (borrowed mainly from Sumerian, Babylonian, and Egyptian concepts and perspectives) as well as the Chinese and Indian sources, and melded western and far eastern ideas to introduce a new and innovative approach. Patients suffering from a certain physical or psychological illness were expected to be influenced by certain makams, or specific musical modes, and were prescribed these makams for therapeutic purposes. These effects were systematically applied as preventative and curative means. For example, sciatica (a type of back pain) was expected to be treated with the neva makam, which also brings a person pleasure and contentment and is most effective in the evening. Hüseyni makam, most effective at dawn, was used to treat fever; zengule and irak were for meningitis (referred to as sersam) (Sari 2009). Native American communities still practice religious healing ceremonies consisting of prayer, dance, and chanting to help members of their tribe heal and find harmony. The earliest proponents of music therapy, whether they be from the East or West, engaged in scientific debate with each other, curious as to why they observed improvements in their patients with music therapy. One theory was that music, humans, and cosmology were in harmony with the physical elements of water, air, fire, and soil. Others approached sound from a physicist’s point of view and discussed the nature of sound, its subdivisions, and the process of perceiving sound. They also debated what these therapies could be used for, some argued they were only suitable for treating mental disorders, whereas others supported its expansion for other physical ailments.

It has long been argued whether or not music therapy is only useful for regulating emotions or if it can also be used to aid the treatment of physical ailments. It has also long been observed in psychology and biology that specific emotions result in well-known physiological responses. For example, when you feel sad, your skin’s conductivity usually decreases and heart’s pulse slows down, while blood pressure and body temperature rise. Fear often results in an increased heart rate, and happiness tends to make us breathe faster. We see that music can directly trigger these emotions: music with a quick tempo and major (wider interval, more open sound) key bring about the physical changes associated with happiness, whereas a slow tempo and minor (narrow interval) key result in those associated with sadness. However, newer research (Jolij & Meurs 2011) suggests that music does not only affect our moods but that it can affect our worldviews and can even change our perceptions of the world. Since emotions elicit physiological responses, music therapy may have the capacity to prevent or treat physical illnesses, in addition to emotional and psychological ones.

These debates still continue, but with the technologies of today and the evidence we record in patients, we see the potential for music therapy more than ever. Maybe the more important question isn’t how, but why this information is important and how we can properly utilize it. If music is so universal and so essential, what effects does it have on what makes us, us: our soul and body? Music therapy tries to answer this question. In western tradition, the Latin phrase “Mens sana in corpore san,” which means “a healthy mind in a healthy body” is supported with the current psychological understanding that there is a clear connection between body and psyche and how both processes react to each other. As functional MRIs allow us to see the living brain dance as individuals listen to, imagine, and even compose music, we are finding many answers and also asking new questions. We see there is no single center within the brain that responds to musical activity and that different parts of the brain light up for different people. Many current studies explore the positive effects of music therapy, meditation, and other holistic treatment options for pain management. In 1944, Michigan State University established the first academic program in music therapy and the Certification Board for Music Therapists was incorporated in 1983 to assure the competency of credentialed music therapists. Currently, in the United States, music therapy is an established profession that uses music as a therapeutic tool to address physical, emotional, cognitive, and social needs of individuals. Since 1998, the American Music Therapy Association has been the intellectual home of music therapists and has published two research journals that promote music therapy through social media streams in addition to podcasts, scholarships, and newsletters.

Contemporary music therapy comes in two forms: active and receptive. In active therapy the therapist and patient make music together, with their voice, instruments, or other objects, allowing the patient to express his or her creativity. Receptive therapy, on the other hand, is very similar to what we observed with historical musical therapists where a therapist plays music for the patient to listen to. It is used in a variety of fields, for example, individuals with special needs focus on developmental work, such as communication or motor skills. In the physical rehabilitation of stroke victims, practices include processing and relaxing via rhythmic entertainment. Alcohol and drug recovery programs, correctional facilities, medical hospitals, psychiatric hospitals, and cancer centers have also utilized music therapy in various forms. Current music therapists work with older adults to lessen dementia symptoms, children with autism to improve communication capabilities, and with premature infants to improve sleep patterns and increase weight gain.

Neurologist Dr. Oliver Sacks has done incredible research on the power of music therapy for the treatment of dementia. His curiosity was sparked in 1966 when he first saw the profound effects music had on long drifted Parkinson’s patients which he described in the book, Awakenings. With music, he saw his patients awaken, their dyskinesias diminishing, and their memories coming back into view. What may seem magical to some is simple neuroscience to others: Parkinson’s is a dysfunction of dopaminergic neurons in the brain, and the memory of music we love gives us a rush of dopamine. He also applied what he observed with his Alzheimer’s patients who couldn’t remember their own names (Sacks 2008). After being immersed in a “brain bath” of music from the patient’s past, they could now have a conversation and talk about their childhood memories. “Even if they can’t recognize loved ones and they’ve stopped speaking, they hear music and they come alive.”

In other neurological conditions such as strokes, aphasias (difficulties with expressive language due to head trauma or brain tumors), autism, and psychiatric illnesses, there is growing evidence of the difference music therapy can have on long-term outcomes. Stroke patients who choose to add music therapy, in addition to other treatments, have an overall better quality of life and are better able to regulate their emotions and communicate with fewer occurrences of depression and anxiety while also having a greater increase in muscle strength. Melodic intonation therapy (MIT) is an active therapy technique that is used to help treat communication disorders (aphasias) that were caused by brain damage (Norton 2009). It encourages patients to sing and hum in order to engage the language-capable regions of their brains. Sometimes this humming can be accompanied by physical movements such as tapping of the hand or drumming. Along with these neural activations, visual stimuli of the word to be relearned will be shown. With many repetitions, patients can eventually remember words without the musical and physical cues. With the connections that have been illustrated between music, emotion, and communication, it’s not difficult to see how music could also help patients who are autistic and having difficulty with social interactions. Research has illustrated the usefulness of music therapy in autism treatment approaches, and how it promotes healthy neurodevelopment along with honing socio-communication, interaction, speech production, language acquisition, attention, and motor skills. There is also much evidence that supports music therapy as supplemental treatment in patients suffering from psychiatric ailments such as schizophrenia, major depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

We are also starting to see the emergence of music therapy research that concerns non-neurological conditions such as heart disease, cancer, and autoimmune diseases including arthritis or lupus. It is easier to wrap one’s mind around how music therapy may help someone with heart disease, but more difficult to understand how it could have any effect on autoimmune diseases, which are already a mystery for modern medicine to treat. As mentioned above, music and emotions go hand in hand; when we feel happy or relaxed our heart beats in a different way than when we feel angry or stressed. These long-term effects can reduce blood pressure and provide a healthy environment for our hearts.

Emerging research shows that listening to music can actually alter our genetic material on a molecular level. Scientists at the University of Helsinki found that music directly affects human RNA, which is the very core of one’s biological being (Kanduri 2015). A similar research project is also underway at Kyoto University. Another approach, if we remember our historical physicians’ debates, is high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU), which harnesses the actual physical property of sound waves and targets them toward cancer cells, which is already being used as an FDA-approved treatment to cure prostate cancer (FDA 2015).

The sensation of perceiving music is on a spectrum; it changes from anhedonia (almost no dopamine response) to synthesis (increased dopamine response). But even when we take away the dopamine rush and the element of enjoyment, there is still a benefit of music/sound waves from a purely physical point of view, as in the ultrasound treatment of cancer or in the rewriting of our DNA with post-transcriptional regulation.

As can be seen with the historical and current explorations, there is much potential in music therapy. There is still much to be uncovered about the power of sound and music, but this will require a multi-pronged, interdisciplinary approach from budding STEM enthusiasts.

References

• Andrews, Evan. 2018. “What is the oldest known piece of music?” https://www.history.com/news/what-is-the-oldest-known-piece-of-music
• Darwin, Charles. 1871. The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex, UK: John Murray.
• Leutwyler, Kristin. 2001. “Exploring the Musical Brain,” Scientific American. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/exploring-the-musical-bra/
• Sacks, Oliver. 2008. Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain, Vintage.
• “Alive Inside: A Story of Music & Memory Featurette” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HLEr-zP3fc)
• Sari, Nil. 2009. “Ottoman Music Therapy” http://www.muslimheritage.com/article/ottoman-music-therapy#sec_2
• Norton, Andrea. 2009. Melodic Intonation Therapy: Shared Insights on How it is Done and Why it Might Help
• Kanduri, Chakravarthi, et al. 2015. “The Effect of Listening to Music on Human Transcriptome,” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4362302/
• Jolij, Jacob. 2011. “Music Alters Visual Perception,” https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0018861
• De Novo Classification Request for Sonablate 450. 2015. https://fountainmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/DEN150011-7a9.pdf

It’s not just modern medicine that utilizes bees and their products for healing. A clay tablet that dates back to 2000-2100 BC describes the healing properties of bee venom. In 1935, Forapin, which was isolated from bee venom, was introduced into the market. It’s still being used. Bee venom is collected by placing a small panel, which looks like a grill, in front of the bee hive. The panel is composed of metal wires in which low voltage electric currents flow. The entrance to the hive is through these wires. The bees that are entering or exiting the hive are subjected to a mild electric shock, and sting the panel with their needle as self defense. Meanwhile, the bee venom flows into the glass plate underneath the panel. Bee venom is collected and turned into a powder form without harming the bee.

The chemical composition and effects of bee venom

Bee venom is a colorless, odorless, clear, and water soluble liquid that is resistant to cold and hot temperatures. In normal seasonal temperatures, this venom dries up in 20 minutes and loses 65-70% of its weight. It takes a yellowish brown color after it is dry. 10,000 bee needles are needed for one gram of bee venom.

18 different bioactive molecules were found in the composition of bee venom. Some of these are: Melittin, adolapin, apamin, mast cell degranulation, histamine, phospholipase A, peptide, dopamine and hyaluronidase. These molecules show the characteristics of amino acid, protein, fat, sugar, and enzyme. Melittin and adolapin protein are anti-inflammatory; apamin increases nerve transmission; and mast cell degranulation is equipped with characteristics to help reduce allergies. Mellition, which is composed of 26 amino acids, is the main toxin molecule of the bee venom. Melittin triggers the synthesis of the cortisol hormone that suppresses inflammation and increases the resistance of cell walls. Melittin also triggers the immune system cells that prevent the formation of free radicals, which normally damage cells and tissue. As well as being antipyretic (fever decreasing), adolapin is also a pain reliever and also plays a role in the prevention of cyclooxygenase that are a cause of infection. Apaminin, which consists of 10 peptides, is thought to play a role in healing a damaged nervous system.

Low concentrations of mast cell degranulation proteins cause the synthesis of histamine, which triggers an allergic reaction; whereas high concentrations of it play a role in preventing these reactions. Although these molecules are called venom, they are provided with remarkable healing characteristics.

Treatment with bee venom

The fact that treatments for rheumatism are not completely effective has persuaded patients and healers to look into complimentary treatment techniques. Bee venom has gained acceptance as a complementary healing technique in China, the US, and Europe. Apitherapy centers have been popping up in these places – and the best method to apply apitherapy is by using bee venom.

The bee sting is mimicked by injecting bee venom into or underneath the skin, though creams or capsules of bee venom also exist. The injections function in a way similar to an actual sting, or to acupuncture. Acupuncture prevents pain by blocking the brain and spine paths (opioid and alpha 2 adrenergic receptors) that cause pain. Similarly, a bee sting stimulates the secretion of endorphins, which are a pain relief molecule. Therefore, in Chinese medicine, it is more common to apply the bee venom through acupuncture. In some cases, api-acupuncture is practiced by combining both treatments.

The treatment is started by injecting a small amount of bee venom underneath the skin to see if the patient will respond with an allergic reaction. If no allergic reaction occurs, the treatment is continued with one or two bee stings or injections. The treatment is carried out three times a week, by increasing the number of bee stings and injections each time. The treatment may cause allergic reactions in the patient that result in pain, swelling, itching, redness, or – very rarely – death. Therefore, as with every practice, treatment with bee venom should only be practiced by experts, and should not be tried by inexperienced healers.

As well as rheumatic complaints, bee venom is used for the treatment of arthritis (rheumatoid arthritis), joint calcification (osteoarthritis), bone weakening after climacteric, muscular rheumatism (fibromyalgia), and chronic pain.

In a study conducted with 80 inflamed articular rheumatism patients, 40 of them were treated with bee venom twice a week for two months. The rest of the patients were injected with physiological serum. The first group showed significant improvements on sensitive and inflamed joints, morning stiffness, and pain.

In a similar study, patients with inflamed joint rheumatism were injected with bee venom three times a week for three months, and there was a significant decrease in patient complaints. This study also proved that bee venom can be used for the treatment of inflamed joint rheumatism.

The healing quality of bees has long been noted. If we ruminate on this gift, it’s hard not to admire its wise design.

What possible similarities could there exist between a human and a tree? Interestingly, the open wounds of human beings and trees are subject to the same laws and are healed in similar ways.

Have you ever wondered what kinds of similarities exist between human skin and the bark of a tree?

Trees are subject to major and minor injuries just like humans are. These injuries could be the result of a broken branch, insect infestation, animal damage, fire and human related damages. These kinds of injuries can lead to the infection of a plant which can cause rotting and damage to the transport tissues like phloem (nutrients) and xylem (water) by microorganisms and insects (bacteria, fungi, parasites).

Fluid excretion in wounds and development of scar tissue

Blood serum is secreted in human wounds, whereas gum and resin type fluids are secreted in various trees (Figure 2 and 3). Serum plays an important role in sterilization of the wound, along with blood coagulation. Defense mechanisms in trees involve excretion of different fluids (resin in needle-leaf trees, gum in broadleaf trees) that are synthesized via composition of various chemicals. The most important feature of these fluids is that with their special chemical make up, they can protect the wound from organisms like bacteria, fungi, and insects that are potentially harmful to the tree. These fluids also feature coagulation like the human serum; they congeal and solidify after excretion and trigger a biological healing process while physically covering the wounded area.

Wounds are repaired with new connective tissue cells (fibroblasts) in humans and by callus in trees. Healing of the wound following the coagulation takes place with proliferation of cells in this region (epithelialization). First, epithelial cells wrap the wound via proliferation. New transport tissue is developed during this process. Next, fibroblasts that are in charge of wound repair are transferred into coagulate via this transport tissue. Fibroblasts synthesize collagen protein of the required fiber structure needed for the wound repair. Injured area is woven with these, and recovers its former shape in time depending on the size of the wound.

Healing is granted through timely reproduction, transformation and maturation of paranchimatic cells that make up the callus, when only a portion of tree bark is damaged. Paranchimatic cells are fused side by side and they form a thick elevation of callus tissue around the wound (Figure 4). At the end, these are activated for the development of a new, healthy cambium and bark. Cambium tissue is responsible for vertical and lateral growth of a tree therefore it is vitally important that it does not suffer any damage. This tissue in growth season proceeds from the perimeter of the wound towards the center for a complete healing. The productive efficiency of the tree medium can speed up or slow down the curing process similar to humans.

The reality is that all living things are created with a dress suited for their environments so that their bodies can be protected from negative elements from the outside world. Organisms are armored from many harmful physical (mechanical, extreme temperatures, light etc.) and chemical effects with this perfectly bestowed dress as a manifestation of the divine compassion in the universe just as in the case of the wounds of humans, animals and plants which are subject to the similar laws found in nature.

In the past few decades many studies and articles on the subject of religion, spirituality and health, from both Western and Muslim perspectives, have been published. In this book, Salih Yucel’s quantitative and qualitative studies support previous research findings which suggest that religion and health are not mutually exclusive and that there is clearly a positive correlation between prayer and wellbeing.

This book comprises a research study taken from the author’s doctoral thesis, The Effects of Prayer on Muslim Patients’ Well-being. Also included in this book is a qualitative study which contains examples of many case histories and anecdotal evidence from Muslims who have benefited from the healing power of prayer, which includes salat (Islamic ritual prayers), dua (formal and informal supplication to God), and dhikr (remembrance of God, based on the Sufi concept of connectedness to the universe. Also included are Bediuzzaman Said Nursi’s “twenty-five remedies” for the sick which explains the concept of illness and how Muslims should view it in the light of belief.

The aim of this research has been to investigate the physical and spiritual effects of prayer on Muslim patients. Sixty adult Muslim in-patients, consisting of equal numbers of women and men from different educational backgrounds and nationalities, were recruited from the patient population at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a Harvard Medical School-affiliated institution in Boston, Massachusetts. The research included a pre-test questionnaire in order to assess the spiritual level of the patients and a post-test questionnaire after prayers were completed. The surveys were based on Islamic sources, with the second survey split into two sessions: the first contained readings from the Qur’an while the second consisted of texts from a non-religious source, serving as a control in order to determine the effect of prayers on the patients.

Unlike previous studies, this research has provided guidelines for prayer which is based on the Qur’an, the Prophetic Traditions and the works of a number of Muslim scholars. The guidelines are a reminder that prayers should if possible be carried out under certain conditions, which include both physical and spiritual preparation prior and after prayer. Examples include taking ablution and ensuring clothes are clean prior to prayer and so on. Also some of the spiritual advice is extremely helpful, such as the understanding that prayer will always be answered but not necessarily in the way that individuals may expect it, thus reducing the disappointment patients may feel if they do not get exactly what they have asked for after prayer. However, other conditions, such as offering prayer “sincerely,” may not be so easy to ensure.

The findings of the preliminary survey were used to determine the level of religiosity/spirituality of patients from an Islamic perspective. These findings were consistent with previous studies, showing a strong correlation between religiosity/spirituality and hopefulness/confidence. The post-test survey based on self-report measures of religiosity and wellbeing following the prayer session also showed higher scores in comparison to the control group. With regard to vital signs and the positive physical effects of prayer on health, however, the data was not considered to be clinically significant. The author admits to some of the limitations of the study such as the hospital environment itself which is not conducive to prayer conditions. One of the main limitations has been the omission of compulsory prayers (salat) from the survey, as many bed-ridden patients were unable to take part in this activity. A longitudinal study with a larger participant group and a more convenient environment might possibly have produced better results.

However, the qualitative study included in this book, which consists of many case studies of people who have benefitted from the healing power of prayer, provides further support for the importance of including prayer as part of treatment. The main strength of the book lies in its approach, which is based mainly on Said Nursi’s ideas of remedies for the sick. These remedies enable patients to move away from reliance on the realm of causality and are able potentially to empower them to try to understand their condition in a much broader context that includes the concept of the Hereafter.

Licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra) is a Mediterranean perennial plant having light blue flowers, feathery leaves, and a sweet, distinctively flavored root. Its generic name, “Glycyrrhiza,” comes from the ancient Greek words glycos riza, meaning “sweet root.”1 It has grown in the wild in many Middle Eastern, European, and western Asian countries.

Licorice is 50 times sweeter than table sugar, though some researchers have placed it at more than 150 times sweeter than sucrose. This intense sweetness can be traced to Glycyrrhizic acid, a multi-purpose molecule that consists of two sugar moieties. Glycyrrhizic acid, one of the main components found in Licorice root, is believed to contribute to the herb’s healing properties. The varied properties of this molecule have led to the surprising mix of products containing licorice today: medicines, cough syrups, herbal supplements, gum, drinks, and candy.

History of licorice as a healing herb

Licorice root has been used since ancient Egyptian, Greek and Roman times in the West, and since the second and third centuries B.C in the East. Hindus, Chinese, Sumerians, Assyrians, Babylonians, and eventually the Greeks and Romans all were acquainted with its sweet flavor. Egyptians used it as the main ingredient of a very well known drink, called erksoos,2 which is still popular in modern times. In Japan, the oldest specimen of licorice introduced from China in the middle of the eighth century still exists in the Imperial Storehouse. Ancient soldiers found that if they chewed the root on long marches, it would prevent thirst. The benefits of licorice were also known by physicians in the Middle East, so they prescribed it as a medicine. Ibn Sina (Avicenna), the famous physician and philosopher, said that: “the infused licorice purifies the voice and the trachea, and is useful in disorders and diets.”3 He used this plant in treating his patients nine centuries ago. Greeks and Romans ate licorice to treat coughs, asthma, colds, and sore throats. Today it’s still a popular flavor for cough drops and other medicines. During the Ottoman Empire Eastern Turks used to make a drink called “Meyan serbeti” by combining licorice and water. Even today it is sold by the street vendors in Southeast Turkey.

Medicinal uses and indications

In both the East and West, licorice has been used to treat a variety of illnesses ranging from the common cold to liver disease. This herb has long been valued as a demulcent (soother) and expectorant (which rids phlegm and mucous from the respiratory tract). It is particularly popular for relief from respiratory ailments such as allergies, bronchitis, colds, and sore throats. It is also used as a treatment for stomach problems, diseases of the skin, relief from stress, and diseases of the liver.

Today’s studies and findings have revealed the amazing properties of licorice, which will be a remedy in medicine for different diseases beside pharmaceutical products.

• Animal studies and trials in humans have supported the value of licorice for stomach ulcers. “If I had an ulcer, the first thing I’d go for is licorice,” says James Duke, Ph.D., botanist at the US Department of Agriculture. .Dozens of studies, he says, endow licorice root with formidable anti ulcer properties.4 Many studies have shown the licorice is just as effective as the commonly used ulcer drug Tagamet in healing ulcers.

• The Journal of Drugs in Dermatology July edition reports that licorice, among other natural products, is very effective for use in treatment of rosacea, atopic dermatitis, irritated skin, drug-induced skin eruptions, and psoriasis.

• Licorice is showing well in studies of its use in heart treatment. In recent research, people with high cholesterol experienced significant reductions in total cholesterol after taking licorice root extracts for one month. Systolic blood pressure was reduced by 10%. These measures returned to their previous elevated levels when participants stopped taking the licorice supplements.

• Researchers at the University of California have been studying licorice root to prevent cavities. Studies which have been done so far have shown that compounds isolated from licorice root could be inhibitors for microbes to cause tooth decay. “More studies are needed before it is proven that the compounds effectively fight cavities in humans. If further studies show promise, the licorice compounds could eventually be used as cavity-fighting components in mouthwash or toothpaste” says Wenyuan Shi, Ph.D, a microbiologist at UCLA’s School of Dentistry.”5

• Some people in the USA face a serious oral problem which is the severe pain in the mouth called “canker sores”. Dentists have been trying different types of treatments for this disease. Studies have shown that the best result received the treatment that is used the adhesive patch with the licorice extract.6

Even though there are many benefits to using licorice, at high doses there may be some side effects such as high blood pressure and low blood potassium levels, and fluid retention because of glycyrrhizin. Some licorice root extracts, with the glycyrrhizin removed, are known as deglycyrrhizinated licorice (DGL). This form retains many of licorice’s healing properties and is the better choice for long term use. Scientific studies have shown that DGL reduces inflammation and is as effective as prescription drugs for gastric ulcers without side effects. Natural health experts Phyllis and James Balch reported to naturalnews.com that “it’s best not to eat more than three ounces a day and it should not be used on a daily basis more than seven days in a row by persons with diabetes, heart diseases and high blood pressure.”

Food and other uses

Licorice root has a long history of being used to make candy. Two licorice candies that originated in England are Allsorts and Pontefract Cakes, which have been around since Elizabethan times when licorice was grown in the Pontefract district of Yorkshire. Allsorts are pastel-colored and round-square candies. Pontefract Cakes are soft, coin-shaped black licorice. Today, some of these candies are decorated with a stamp of Pontefract Castle. In Finland, red and black licorice is shaped like little smoking pipes, while in Germany it’s shaped into wheels. Salty licorice, shaped in coin-diamond, is very popular in Holland. Another popular Dutch candy is Katje, shaped with black cats and made of strong-flavored licorice [10]. Although it seems odd, many flavors such as mint, coffee, cherry, honey and chocolate are combined with licorice to make tasty treats. Unfortunately, many American candies that are called licorice actually contain no licorice at all. Licorice, fennel, and anise all have an essential oil called anethole, which gives them a distinctive taste. Many “licorice” candies are actually flavored with anise instead. Next time you eat licorice, check the package to see if licorice extract is one of the ingredients.

Although licorice is something to eat or drink, some of its more interesting uses have little to do with food. Much of the natural licorice grown today ends up flavoring tobacco instead of candy. But what about the parts of licorice that remain once the flavor is removed?

One of the products of licorice roots is a foaming liquid. This can sometimes be added as a flavoring in some beverages, but an unexpected use for the same liquid is found in fire extinguishers. It can extinguish fires in oil tanks, where other traditional methods are unsuccessful.

Even after every drop of liquid is removed from roots, they’re still useful. Pulp mills blend the root’s fibers with other ingredients to make boxes and wallboards. Walls with only a half-inch-thick piece of this fiber board are better insulators from heat, cold, and sound than six-inch walls of brick, stone, or concrete.

Until several decades, Scientists have emphasized only how plants do photosynthesis other than informing or searching other amazing functions. Today, scientists have been studying plants in order to get more useful benefits from them. The licorice plant needs further research in order for us to discover other benefits to human being’s ecology. In the light of explored results about licorice, numerous ways of using this plant have been proven and caused people to ponder about how a simple plant is able to carry the varied properties in its roots. It is basically wood, but sweeter than sugar.

Conclusion

Almost every day humankind faces a new health problem which can never be healed by medicine, nor can they determine the root cause. Today, by understanding the amazing properties of the Licorice plant, we should explore the earth for other plants in search for what has been created and its benefits to us. There are surely countless other unknown and useful plants waiting to be discovered and used for their real purpose of living.

Even though there have been many promising findings, there are ongoing debates in the scientific community regarding the value and side effects of licorice products. Further studies are needed.

Despite its long history, licorice may yet surprise us. Its presence in the candy aisle, at the pharmacy, among the natural food products, and on the checkout stand attests to the complexity and rich chemistry of this sweet beneficial root.

Sumeyra Dural Cokavci has a Master’s degree in Nuclear Physics, Georgia State University, Atlanta.

References

1. The Green Pharmacy Herbal Handbook: By James A. Duke p:194

2. Toxicology and clinical pharmacology of herbal products By Melanie Johns Cupp, p: 223

3. http://www.asehlicorice.com/

4. Food–Your Miracle Medicine By Jean Carper p:177

5. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2632514?dopt=Abstract

6. http://www.food-info.net/uk/products/sweets/liquorice.htm

In our interview with Dr. Charles Townes from California, a Nobel laureate, the core message of the lead article is further developed; Townes notes “the most fundamental and human question is the meaning of life.” According to Townes, religion and science are much more consistent with one another than people think and questions like “why are we here and what should we do? How did life begin, why is the world the way it is?” can be answered by studying both.

In this issue we have two pieces on music. In our interview with Dr. Jeffrey Thompson he notes that sound is used in all cultures on earth “as a prominent technique in healing or religious rites or as a means of attaining a change of consciousness, one way or another.” Starting from being a fetus in our mother’s womb, human beings are first exposed to sound at a younger age and more predominantly than other senses, like sight. Sounds can provide a form of relaxation therapy when the right tones are found and played in a way that connects us to our primordial state, taking us away from the din of our daily activities.

Julie Ann Cunningham discusses the healing power of music in human history and today. She explains how healing was made possible in ancient civilizations from the priest-physicians of Egypt to musicologists and mystics of India to Abu Bakr Razi, who treated patients suffering from depression more than a thousand years ago. For Cunningham, “music is a language that crosses the barriers of human vocal languages.”