Treating Sciatica with a sheep
tail
In the
traditions of Ibn Majah as was reported from Anas Ibn Malek the
prophet (PBUH) said: “The cure of
Sciatica is the tail of a desert sheep molten and split into three
parts each is taken on an empty stomach for three following days”
(Desert sheep: meaning sheep that graze in areas with grass
growing naturally.)
Symptoms of Sciatica: Sciatica is a pain radiating
along the sciatic nerve starting from the hips down the back of the
leg and possibly to the foot.
The longer
it remains the more it moves down the leg that becomes thinner,
accompanied with numbness and weakness of the
leg.
The
symptoms may include a back pain and can be serious if are
accompanied by bowel or bladder incontinence.
What causes Sciatica ?
: Sciatica has various
causes; most cases result from a herniated disc that leads to the
compression of the nerve roots.
Infection
by some enterobacteria causes the inflammation of the sciatic nerve
and so Sciatica.
Scientific miracles in the hadith
1-The role of fats in the treatment of this
illness:
The prophet (PBUH) mentioned that
the treatment of Sciatica, in some cases, is the tail of a sheep,
which is
in fact fat.
Modern science says:
Lipid
metabolism has three branches, each is related to the type of fat
consumed in a big quantity, leading therefore to the formation of
three different chemical compounds that have opposite effects from
each other. These compounds, called the prostaglandins, resemble
the
hormones and have different effects on pains and inflammations in
the body.
Prostaglandins type 1 prevent pain
and come from the fatty acid called gamma linoleic acid GLA
that belongs to the omega 6 fat group found on a limited basis in
some
wild plant .
Therefore medical products containing extracts of
those two plants are expensive. Those products help people that do
not have active enzymes to convert linoleic acid to gamma linoleic
acid and then to prostaglandins type 3.
Type two prostaglandins, on the other hand,
augment the pains. These are formed from omega 6 fat group as well,
and mainly from linoleic acid found in margarines and cakes, as
well
as vegetal oils converted by the food industry to the solid trans
fats, so that cakes, chocolates and sweets remain in the solid
state
in room temperature.
Type 3 prostaglandins are known for their calming
action on the pains and inflammations. Those are formed from Alpha
Linoleic Acid (ALA), which is converted to the two compounds EPA
and
DHA. Alpha Linoleic Acid is found in the oils of natural leaves and
herbs, and so this is an advantage of the natural vegetal food
eaten
by humans and animals like the sheep living in a desert
(oasis)
Oils that contain alpha linoleic acid are cheap.
Those belong to the omega3 group known for its large benefits and
are liquid in room temperature.
Some of
the benefits of fats of omega 3class are:
-
The decrease of cholesterol level,
-
The protection from heart and brain
strokes
- The protection from arterial
hypertension, rheumatoid, eczema and cancers.
Furthermore it was proved that lipids of type sys
have a role in decreasing the lipid amount in the body and so in
weight loss.
Contrary to the fats of omega 3 class, saturated
animal fats and hydrogenated vegetal fats which is converted in
food
industry to fats of type Trans, as well as fats of omega 6 class do
not have all the benefits that omega 3 fat class has but have many
harms.
This big
variation in omega 3 fats benefits can be understood by showing the
physiological effects of the principal fatty
acids.
Fatty acids are involved in the formation of the
tissues of the brain, the eye, the ear, the reproductive glands and
the other glands’ tissues.
They are involved in the formation of the
membranes surrounding all the cells in the body and acting to
protect the cells.
Fatty acids have a role in repairing the nervous
tissues as in the case of a herniated disk, one of the principal
causes of Sciatica.
Science proved that Omega three fat group has
important roles in treating the inflammation of nervous tissues,
which is the second main cause of Sciatica. A book specialised in
this field was edited in 1998, written by Joel Krimmer, the
professor in medicine and the chief of the rheumatism division in
the medical school in New York. The book is titled “The Medical
Fats
and Inflammation” and includes many details of the biochemistry of
the inflammation treatment by the omega 3 fats.
2- The desert
sheep live on natural herbs, rich in the omega 3 fats and from
which scientists could extracted 700 medicines. The beneficial oils
the sheep obtains from these herbs are stored in its
tail.
3- The Prophet (PBUH) said that
the tail should be melted first,
and so the harmful bacteria and germs are killed by the heat.
4- It should also be taken in
three days, not more, to avoid fat oxidation and
rancidity.
5-It should be taken on an empty
stomach: so that no other lipids compete with the
lipids of the tail for absorption in the digestive tract at the
vesicule and pancreas level in addition to the cellular level where
the enzymes acting at the membrane convert those lipids of the
omega
3 group to the beneficial type 3 prostaglandin that reduce the
inflammations and the pain caused by
Sciatica
