Restrictive dietetic practices, rather than helping the patient, reduce his food intake and thereby impair recovery. This is a cruelty born-of erroneous notion passed on to us as a legacy from hakims and vaids (quakes), rather than having any scientific justification. Even if some doctors do not entertain such restrictions, the so called well-wishers of patients will definitely offer free advice and impose food restrictions upon their patients. Everybody has his own share of bitter experiences, horrific memories, and heart-rending stories of the past. The chain of death and destruction remains unbroken. The gloomy, dark sky is waiting for break of a new dawn gone into eclipse years before. The ongoing Indo- Pak peace process has already resulted in a number of confidence- building measures, but in spite of all that an average of five persons each day are being killed in terror-related incidents across the State. A tricky situation prevails in which militants and security forces are pitted against each other, converting the streets, the lanes and by-lanes, and human settlements in to a well-entrenched battle ground. Innocent Kashmir’s are dying, getting maimed, and suffering mental agony and the world is watching with a nonchalant indifference.
Due to globalizing trend of homogenisation of culture, changes in the health care delivery system and market economics infringing on the practice of medicine, there has been a gradual shift in the attitude of the medical community as well as the lay public towards greater acceptance of euthanasia as an option for terminally ill and dying patients. Physicians in developing countries come across situations where such issues are raised with increasing frequency. As the subject has gained worldwide prominence, we want to review this topic from Islamic perspective due to its significance in medical ethics and clinical practice.
Introduction: Epilepsy remains a stigmatised disease across geographical and temporal boundaries. Very little is known about epileptic stigma (ES) in cross-cultural settings. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of perceived stigma and factors associated with it, among patients with epilepsy (PWE) at a tertiary care referral hospital in East Coast of Malaysia. Methods: A cross sectional survey among 132 consenting PWE using pre-tested, semi-structured questionnaire in Malay/English language to assess their knowledge, attitude and practices (KAPs). Results: Among 132 respondents, 51.5% were male and 48.5 % were female. Their age ranged from 14 to 70 years (mean=31.6±13.41). Majority (53.8%) of them were aged 30 years or younger. The median number of years they had epilepsy was 8.0 (IQR 4.0-18.8) years and average duration of seizure prior to seeking medical attention was 1.0 (IQR 0.3 - 4.5) year. Most of them (90.9%) did not know the cause of epilepsy; however nearly all (91.7%) believed that it was a disease of the
brain. Higher education level respondents possessed significantly higher KAP scores compared to lower education level respondents (p