Al-hijamah (the triple S treatment of prophetic medicine) exerts cardioprotective, tissue-protective and immune potentiating effects in thalassemic children: a pilot clinical trial

Mohamed El-Shanshory; Nahed Mohammed Hablas; Yasmin Shebel; Osama Alhadramy; Rehab El-Tahlawi; Moutasem Salih Aboonq; Tamer M Soliman; Abdelhady Ragab Abdel-Gawad; Sayed Mostafa El Sayed; Hesham I Abdallah; Hany Salah Mahmoud; Hassan El-Allaf; Samer El-Sawy; Reda S Yousef; Mostafa Abu-El Naga; Reham A Mariah; Manal Mohamed Helmy Nabo; Mohamed Abdel-Haleem; Ahmed Alamir Mahmoud; Mohammad Ahmad Hassan; Areej Hesham Al Arabi; Abdullah Ahmed Alnakhli; Salah Mohamed El Sayed

Al-hijamah (the triple S treatment of prophetic medicine) exerts cardioprotective, tissue-protective and immune potentiating effects in thalassemic children: a pilot clinical trial

Am J Blood Res. 2020 Dec 15;10(6):447-458. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Mohamed El-Shanshory^{1

2}, Nahed Mohammed Hablas², Yasmin Shebel², Osama Alhadramy³, Rehab El-Tahlawi^{4

5}, Moutasem Salih Aboonq⁶, Tamer M Soliman⁷, Abdelhady Ragab Abdel-Gawad⁷, Sayed Mostafa El Sayed^{8

9}, Hesham I Abdallah^{8

9}, Hany Salah Mahmoud¹⁰, Hassan El-Allaf¹¹, Samer El-Sawy¹², Reda S Yousef¹², Mostafa Abu-El Naga^{13

14}, Reham A Mariah¹⁵, Manal Mohamed Helmy Nabo^{16

17}, Mohamed Abdel-Haleem¹⁸, Ahmed Alamir Mahmoud¹², Mohammad Ahmad Hassan¹⁹, Areej Hesham Al Arabi²⁰, Abdullah Ahmed Alnakhli²⁰, Salah Mohamed El Sayed^{1

12

21}

Affiliations

¹ Prophetic Medicine Course and Research Group, Taibah College of Medicine Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah, Saudi Arabia.
² Department of Pediatrics, Tanta University Faculty of Medicine Tanta, Gharbia, Egypt.
³ Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Taibah College of Medicine, Taibah University Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Department of Microbiology, College of Medicine, Taibah University Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University Egypt.
⁶ Department of Medical Physiology, Taibah College of Medicine, Taibah University Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah, Saudi Arabia.
⁷ Department of Clinical Pathology, Sohag Faculty of Medicine, Sohag University Sohag, Egypt.
⁸ Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University Egypt.
⁹ Department of Anatomy, Taibah Faculty of Medicine, Taibah University Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah, Saudi Arabia.
¹⁰ Center of Scientific Foundation for Experimental Studies and Research Ismailia, Egypt.
¹¹ Department of Medical Physiology, Sohag Faculty of Medicine, Sohag University Egypt.
¹² Department of Medical Biochemistry, Sohag Faculty of Medicine, Sohag University Egypt.
¹³ Department of Anatomy, College of Medicine, Al-Rayyan National Colleges Al-Madinah, Saudi Arabia.
¹⁴ Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, New Damietta, Al-Azhar University Egypt.
¹⁵ Department of Medical Biochemistry, Tanta Faculty of Medicine, Tanta University Tanta, Egypt.
¹⁶ Division of Pediatric Cardiology, Pediatrics Department, Maternity and Children Hospital Hail, Saudi Arabia.
¹⁷ Division of Pediatric Cardiology, Pediatrics Department, Sohag Teaching Hospital, Ministry of Health Sohag, Egypt.
¹⁸ Department of Ear, Nose and Throat, Taibah Faculty of Medicine, Taibah University Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah, Saudi Arabia.
¹⁹ Department of Pediatrics, Sohag Faculty of Medicine Sohag, Egypt.
²⁰ Department of Cardiology, Governorate of Health, Uhud Hospital Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah, Saudi Arabia.
²¹ Department of Clinical Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, Taibah Faculty of Medicine, Taibah University Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah, Saudi Arabia.

PMID: 33489454
PMCID: PMC7811902

Abstract

Thalassemia is a major health problem in affected children due to iron overload, increased oxidative stress, atherogenic lipid profile and tissue-damage. This study aims at investigating the cardioprotective and tissue-protective benefits of Al-hijamah and their impact on cell-mediated immunity for treating thalassemic children. This study aimed also at investigating the tissue-clearance principle of Taibah mechanism: whenever pathological substances are to be cleared from the human body, Al-hijamah is indicated. Al-hijamah was done to thalassemic children (15 males and 5 females having a mean age of 9.07 ± 4.26 years) using sterile disposable sets in a complete aseptic hospital environment. Prior ethical committee agreement (in addition to written patient's consents) was obtained from Tanta Faculty of Medicine, Egypt. Twenty thalassemic children received iron chelation therapy plus Al-hijamah for one session (30-60 minutes) versus an age and sex-matched thalassemic control group treated with iron chelation therapy only. Al-hijamah is a quite safe outpatient hematological procedure that significantly decreased serum cholesterol (from 129.75 ± 3.67 to 103.5 ± 4.18 mg/dl) and decreased serum triglycerides (from 109.25 ± 8.96 to 91.95 ± 7.22 mg/dl). Interestingly, Al-hijamah exerted significant tissue-protective effects (it decreased serum GPT from 98.65 ± 12.27 to 71.65 ± 32.78 U/L and serum GOT from 96.35 ± 14.33 to 69.35 ± 34.37 U/L). Al-hijamah-induced ferritin excretion caused decreased serum ferritin (high serum ferritin negatively correlated with cell mediated immunity). Al-hijamah exerted cardioprotective and tissue-protective and hypolipidemic effects. Al-hijamah decreased serum cholesterol and is cardioprotective for thalassemic patients as it protects against atherogenesis and atherosclerosis. Medical practice of Al-hijamah is strongly recommended in hospitals. Al-hijamah cleared blood significantly from causative pathological substances e.g. serum ferritin resulting in enhanced cell-mediated immunity (in agreement with the evidence-based Taibah mechanism).

Keywords: Al-hijamah; Al-hijamah indices; Thalassemia; cholesterol; clearance; iron chelation therapy; liver functions.