Assalaamu alaikum,
Please be careful of online claims about health. There is an awful lot of nonsense out there. Just as you can find all sorts of outrageous claims about Islam and Muslims, so too can you find such about your health.
While doctors and pharmacists and other health professionals (according to their specializations), are not infallible, they are a good starting point.Talk to them. Get some key words you can use to google. Ask them what are useful online resources.
Try reputable American sites like the nih (National Institutes of Health
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/), cdc (Centers for Disease Control
http://www.cdc.gov), the Mayo Clinic (
http://www.mayoclinic.org/patient-care-and-health-information?_ga=1.222381340.648458399.1384784451) or your own local National Health Authority. They are a good way to introduce yourself to a topic. They use less medical jargon. If you don't mind paying a little, you can also go to sites like UpToDate (
http://www.uptodate.com/home). They have great summaries, and medical professionals use these sites, too.
If you type “nih” and the topic you're interested in, you can also find scholarly articles that go into more depth. You can buy them, if you really need them.Or you can go and see if your local university library can help you access them for free. The librarians tend to be delighted to help. Even if you
don't go to that university. Some hospitals also have library services that members of the public may access. There's no harm in asking.
If you seriously need in-depth information about a disease (once you have an idea of what you have to deal with), you might want to consider getting a basic book on pathophysiology and start educating yourself. You can get these from university libraries as well as amazon. They are rather expensive, though. Again, university booksellers tend to be quite helpful. (smile) they are used to clueless students wandering about lost.
If you want to look up drug interactions, you might want to try Medscape's Drug Interaction Checker (
http://reference.medscape.com/drug-interactionchecker). Be aware that
commercial (brand) names of drugs may vary widely in the world, but that the
generic names (the more scientific sounding ones, often written in smaller letters on the medicine containers are usually the same around the world (if you're not sure, ask a pharmacist- a real one. Not just a clerk). There are exceptions, though, the most notable being a common drug for pain and fever: called
acetaminophen in North America, and
paracetamol in many other places. This interaction checker is based in the US, so the brand names from elsewhere may not work. The generic names, however, should. But remember three important points: 1) There are drugs commercialized elsewhere in the world that are not available in the US, 2) Sometimes your medecine is a mixture of two or several drugs, and you need to list them all into the interaction checker and 3) These interaction checkers pick up MANY,MANY interactions, which may
not be relevant to
your particular situation. (smile) Before you hurry off to the lawyers to sue your doctor or pharmacist because they didn't pick up on an interaction, I would suggest you discuss it with a health professional. It may
not be important in your particular context. And if they
have made a mistake (and it happens. We are all human), they will generally be as horrified as you if they have made it. And they'll be very grateful to you, and do their best to put things right.
Specifically about liver diseases, you may want to look at these links:
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/liver-disease/basics/definition/CON-20025300?p=1
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/liverdiseases.html
And a scholarly article about soda (sugary fizzy drinks) and liver disease:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2880768/
(smile) Yes, those fizzy drinks that are so popular in so many places, are absolutely
terrible for your health. Not only for your liver, but across the board. Personally, I am with those who are calling (here in Canada) that they be heavily taxed like cigarettes and alcohol. And I'd also restrict them like these other poisons: I don't think children should have access to them at all.
Please be careful. And remember that a little information can be dangerous, if it causes you to believe that you are very knowledgeable. When you actually
do know a lot on a topic, you cannot but realize how little we humans really understand. And this should cause you to tread cautiously and lightly. (smile) A little like our great Islamic scholars who were reluctant to give fatawa because they knew how easy it is to make a mistake... and how grave the consequences if you do (because you are responsible before Allah).
May Allah, the One Who Gives and Withholds, Grant us health or the strength to bear the physical ill-healths that cleanse our spiritual ones.
