title: Ramadan and diabetes: Holistic trial design.
abstract: Extensive work has been done to analyze the safety of various modern glucose-lowering drugs during Ramadan fasting. This editorial suggests the use of validated scales of religiosity/spirituality as an adjunct to pre-Ramadan counselling and risk stratification. The editors also propose a holistic trial design for future trials on glycaemic management during Ramadan. Such a design should include both spiritual and biomedical endpoints, while trying to assess correlation between religiosity/spirituality and biomedical outcomes after Ramadan fasting. Integration of validated instruments to screen and monitor spirituality will help achieve the holistic health in devout Muslims who wish to observe Ramadan.
authors.affiliation: Department of Diabetology, Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT), Karachi, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Fatema
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Jawad
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrinology, Bharti Hospital, Karnal, India.
authors.forename: Sanjay
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kalra
mesh_terms: D003376:Counseling; D065246:Culturally Competent Care / Q000379:methods / Q000458:organization & administration; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D005215:Fasting / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D007003:Hypoglycemia / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007514:Islam / Q000523:psychology*
chemical_list: D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents
keywords: Counselling, Diabetes, Person centered care, Ramadan, Spirituality.