Miscellany

India is sitting on the world diabetes throne with the maximum number of diabetics across the globe. Yet in the arid sand dunes of Rajasthan, there is a tribe of camel breeders called Raicas who are immune to this condition, thanks to a staple item on their daily menu, camel milk. According to the research conducted at the Diabetes Care and Research Centre, SP Medical College Bikaner, a litre of camel milk contains about 52 units of insulin.


“These units in camel milk are not neutralised by the acidic juices in the stomach, unlike other forms of orally administered insulin,” said Mr R. P. Agrawal, director, Diabetes Care and Research Centre, Bikaner. 


There are two types of diabetes, Type I and II, that are prevalent in the country. Type I diabetics have no alternative but to maintain their blood sugar level with insulin shots, while blood sugar in those with Type II condition could be cured by following a healthy and balanced lifestyle. But now, it has been scientifically proven that gulping down camel milk daily would supplement 60 to 70 per cent of insulin in Type I diabetics.


The research on the project had begun with the Raica community as the base model. An initial survey revealed zero prevalence among the Raicas in Jaisalmer and Jodhpur, while the rest of the tribe members in the same region who do not like camel milk but have similar lifestyles, reported five to six per cent incidence of diabetes. Camel milk was successfully tested on albino rats clinically induced with diabetes. Later, similar tests were conducted on more than 50 individuals with Type I and Type II diabetes for more than two years, resulting in a drastic fall in their blood sugar levels.


“A Type I diabetic who needs 20 units of insulin annually can bring this down to six to seven units with regular intake of camel milk,” he said. Both camel milk and this batch of researchers from Bikaner are yet to get their due in their own diabetes-infested country.


But they have featured in many international journals and research publications and even been recommended by the American Diabetes Association.


The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) recently recognised this unique discovery which could provide an effective relief to scores of diabetics in the country.


”Sadly, most of the people in our country are unaware of the fact. We were, however, invited to a number of conferences in the USA, Japan and other countries where they have shown keen interest in our findings. We are also in correspondence with medical universities and research institutes in the USA,” Dr Agrawal said.


Scientists are attributing this trait of camel milk to a unique phytonutrient (derived from plants) present in the camels’ daily diet. But they are yet to isolate this blood sugar fighting agent. Research is on. Camel milk is also high on minerals and low on cholesterol content, compared to cow’s milk.(courtesy: The Statesman, New Delhi)

In the Holy Qur’an Allah (swt) states “Then contemplate (O man!), the memorials of Allah’s Mercy! - how He gives life to the earth after its death: verily the same will give life to the men who are dead: for He has Power over all things.” The Holy Qur’an 30:50


In order to fully understand the verse of the Holy Qur’an, we find that this verse is understood in its proper sense if we study the life in the deserts. The deserts of the world occupy at least one-fifth of the land surface of our globe. If we measure the areas of the deserts of the world and add it up we are astonished to note that the total area is almost to the size of Africa.


The deserts of the world offer the most hostile environment known to man. Nevertheless, its inhabitants will tell us about the strange animals and plants that have adapted to this hostile environment and survive in it!


Water is the most limiting factor common to all deserts, and the average rainfall is often a few drops a year. There may be no rainfall for long stretches of time, sometimes, as many as two or three years. When we reflect on the life in the desert, we must also take into consideration the other harsh tests of nature endured by the animal and plant life in the desert – the sudden frosts during the nights in the winter season, desert storms and at times the uncertain torrential rainfalls, which catches the inhabitants of the desert unawares!


Apart from the animal and the few plants found in the deserts microorganisms are present in the desert soils in large numbers. Studies conducted by scientists of the desert soils have revealed about 90.000 microbes living in a teaspoon full of soil. Most of them are bacteria and fungi. Moreover, when we compare their numbers to those found in the forest their number is rather small. A pioneering study, which was made in the deserts near Cairo 50 years ago, showed that these microscopic animals were present everywhere in the dry sand but enclosed in protective cysts. They emerge as defective envelopes as soon as the sands dry up even after eight months of unbroken drought, and the scientists were able to collect more than 50 species of protozoa, which hatched as soon as the sands were moistened with water.


A pioneering botanist conducting research work on plants in the deserts of North African deserts found in his month long trek that he managed to collect only a dozen plants. It is nearly impossible in the Great Saharan Deserts for a plant to gain a firm footing. In order for a plant to grow on the deserts, the seeds must first arrive blown across by wind in wide spaces of sand; there it must remain viable until water permits it to germinate; finally the seedling must survive the shifting sands, which lay bare its roots to the scorching sun and whip the leaves to shreds.


Nonetheless, growth does begin in the desert. How does life enter the desert? Often it starts in a little pocket or depression where periodical rainfall every year has soaked the surface and temporarily holds the plants from being blown away. There some seeds may quickly germinate and hold their own for a time as the sheltered depression begins to dry up. The slender and weak plants soon die, but they leave behind a clump of organic matter, able to retain its moisture until the next rainfall, preparing the way for another handful of plants.


Certain species of desert plants have adapted to the shifting sands, and none is more successful than the date-palm, the trademark of the oases and the deserts. Its secret of preservation lies in its roots, which grow quickly, which are sent deep into the depths of the earth, while the date-palm tree is still young quickly establishing a foundation and connecting themselves to underground water resources.


The dryness of the desert is not endless, and inevitably after a period until it is time for the next rainfall. And, it is then, when the desert suddenly blooms, in an overnight; it is a rapid change because the desert plants have been storing all their energies for this triumphant moment, in which, it sends out flowers to make seeds. The most eye-catching blooms of the desert after a rainfall are the dazzling colours of the evening primroses and sunflowers and other representatives of familiar groups.


In the constant struggle for the species of their flowers to find a place under the desert sun, these desert plants have not adapted their leaves, stem or roots to desert conditions. These plants bank on the ability of their seeds to germinate quickly, carpeting the desert soil with an incredible array that set the seeds quickly and then wither under the harsh desert sun. These seeds are varied. There are many of them, which germinate if the annual desert rainfalls are an inch or more, but will not do so if it is less than that! However, the layer of sandy soil surrounding the seed is kept moist when the deserts – at times – receive three-fourths of an inch of rainfall or less. Now, the mystery deepens how the seeds accurately measure the precipitation of rainfall. Further, this mystery is compounded, if these seeds find a source of water from below the desert, they refuse to germinate even if it is in abundant supply. But, the same inch worth of water sprinkled from the skies will cause them to germinate! How can the seeds, which are scattered at random, tell the direction from which they receive water?


The answer to this puzzle was provided by Dr. Frits W. Went of the California Institute of Technology. The desert seed coats posses’ chemical inhibitors, which successfully prevent germination until they are removed. The only way they can be removed by washing off the coats from the water coming from above. The seeds require a minimum amount of rainfall for this action to come into effect! Sometimes, in certain desert plants the chemical inhibitors are not removed directly by the rainfall, but enough to set the soil bacteria into action to eliminate the inhibitor. There are other beautiful flowering plants that send their roots in the form of tubers deep into the desert soil, which react differently to the rainfall, and respond, quickly from the rainwater, which has moistened the ground for them!


The Holy Qur’an in 7:54-58 provides an answer, which is puzzling the botanists over the past few decades who are exploring the plants of the desert world. It states: “Your Lord is God, who created the skies and the earth in six periods, then ascended His Throne. He throws the veil of night over day. Swiftly they follow one another. The sun, moon and stars are subservient by His command. His is the creation, His is the command. Blessed be God, the Lord of the worlds. Call on your Lord humbly and secretly; He does not love the transgressors. Do not spread corruption in the land after things have been set right. Pray to Him fearfully, eagerly. God’s mercy is within reach of the righteous. He sends forth the winds as harbingers of His mercy till, when they bear a heavy cloud; - We drive it to a dead land and cause rain to descend thereon, bringing forth all manner of fruit. Thus - We will raise the dead to life; perchance you will take heed. And as for the good land; its vegetation comes forth by the leave of its Lord. But poor and scant are the fruits which spring from barren soil. Thus, - We make plain our Signs for those who render thanks.”