(Qur'an, 2:173)
Eating pork is harmful to health in a great many regards. This harm still persists today, despite all the precautions that are taken.
First and foremost, no matter how clean the farms and environments on which it is raised may be, the pig is not by nature a clean-living animal. It often plays in, and even eats, its own excrement. Due to this and its biological structure, the pig produces much higher levels of antibodies in its body than other animals.
In addition, far higher levels of growth hormone are produced in the pig compared to those in other animals and human beings. Naturally, these high levels of antibodies and growth hormone pass across to and collect in the pig's muscle tissue. Pork meat also contains high levels of cholesterol and lipids. It has been scientifically proven that these significant amounts of antibodies, hormones, cholesterol and lipids in pork represent a serious threat to human health.
The existence of above-average numbers of obese individuals in the populations of countries such as the USA and Germany, in which large quantities of pork are consumed, is now well-known. When exposed to excessive quantities of growth hormone as a result of a pork-based diet, the human body first puts on excessive weight and then suffers physical deformations.
Another harmful substance in pork is the "trichina" worm. This is frequently found in pork and when it enters the human body, it settles directly in the muscles of the heart and represents a possibly fatal threat. Even though it is now technically possible to identify pigs that are infected with trichina, no such methods were known in earlier centuries. That means that everyone who ate pork risked infection by trichina and possible death.
All these reasons are just a part of the wisdom in our Lord's prohibition on the consumption of pork. Moreover, this commandment of our Lord's provides complete protection from the harmful effects of pork under any conditions.
Until the 20th century, it was impossible to be aware of the danger posed to human health by pork. The fact that the Qur'an, revealed fourteen centuries ago, warns against this harm which has been incontrovertibly revealed with modern medical equipment and biological tests, is one of the miracles demonstrating that the Qur'an is the revelation of Allah, the Omniscient. Despite all the precautionary measures and inspections that take place in modern-day pig rearing, the fact that pork is physiologically incompatible with the human body and is a variety of meat harmful to human health has not altered.
By Sandra Parker, eHow Contributor
Life Cycle of the Trichina Worm
Trichina is a type of roundworm that infects rats, pigs and humans. It is responsible for a condition known as trichinosis, which can cause abdominal pain, fever, diarrhea and sometimes vomiting. Most cases of trichinosis are subclinical, meaning that the symptoms are so mild that they are never noticed by the host.
Early Stage
T. spiralis begins life as an embryo, hatching in the uterus of the female adult trichina worm. The immature trichinella are discharged into the host's intestinal tract as second stage larvae. The discharge will usually contain between 1,000-2,000 larvae, which will bore into the intestinal lining and enter the bloodstream, where they make their way their way through the circulatory system to the heart, where they are pumped into the blood vessels of striated muscle tissue. Straited muscles include skeletal muscles and the heart itself. If, by the chance, a larva becomes wayward and cannot find its way to this specific muscle type it will die and be absorbed by the host's body.
Maturation
After lodging in the muscle tissue, the larvae will continue to grow, reaching an approximate length of 1mm and will then enter into a dormant state, encasing themselves in a protective casing called a cyst. A trichina worm can stay in this dormant state for up to 10 years.
Adulthood
The trichina larvae will remain inactive in the intermediate host's muscle fibers until consumed by the new primary host. The cyst walls are broken down during the digestive process and the larvae then escape into the new host's digestive system where they complete the maturation process and begin the process over again.
Symptoms of Infection
As the larvae begin their migration through the intestinal wall and into the circulatory system of the intermediate host, a person will begin to experience generalized symptoms including : fever, swelling of the face, especially around the eyes, nonspecific rash, bleeding of the nail beds, retinas and the whites of the eyes, and a dry cough. In mild cases, these may be the only symptoms, if there are any symptoms at all. In more severe cases of trichinosis, inflammation of the heart, lungs and/or brain is possible. Death contributed to trichinosis is rare, but has been documented.
As the larvae begin to form cysts in the muscle tissues, usually after two to three weeks after the initial infection occurs, the host will begin to experience signs of muscle inflammation, pain and generalized weakness. The most frequent complaint is pain around the eyes, jaw, neck, upper arm, lower back and diaphragm.
Recovery
Symptoms of trichinosis will reach their peak three weeks after infection and will then begin to subside slowly. Recovery is extremely gradual and symptoms may last as long as three months after the initial infection. Fatigue and muscle pain may take several more months to subside.
Causes of Trichinosis
Trichinosis is caused by eating undercooked pork. Cooking pork, and all meats, thoroughly will destroy any cysts that may be lurking within the meat.
Relevant entries : -
-> THE FORMATION OF MILK
-> THE FIG - A FRUIT WHOSE PERFECTION HAS ONLY RECENTLY BEEN REVEALED
-> FISH - A VALUABLE SOURCE OF NUTRITION
-> THE DATE AND ITS USES AS DESCRIBED IN THE QUR'AN
-> THE OLIVE : A HEALTH-GIVING PLANT
-> THE MIRACLE OF HONEY
Source : MIRACLES OF THE QUR'AN.com
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