The practice of contemporary medicine has been tremendously influenced by western ideas and it is assumed by many that autonomy is a universal value of human existence. In the World Health Report 2000, the World Health Organization (WHO) considered autonomy a “universal” value of human life against which every health system in the world should be judged. Further in Western bioethics, patient autonomy and self -determination prevails in all sectors of social and personal life, a concept unacceptable to some cultures. In principle, there are challenges to the universal validity of autonomy, individualism and secularism, as most non-Western cultures are proud of their communal relations and spiritualistic ethos and, thereby imposing Western beliefs and practices as aforementioned can have deleterious consequences. Religion lies at the heart of most cultures which influences the practice patterns of medical professionals in both visible and unconscious ways. However, religion is mostly viewed by scientists as mystical and without scientific proof. Herein lies the dilemma, whether medical professionals should respect the cultural and religious beliefs of their patients? In this paper we aim to discuss some of the limitations of patient's autonomy by comparing the process of reasoning in western medical ethics and Islamic medical ethics, in order to examine the possibility and desirability of arriving at a single, unitary and universally acceptable notion of medical ethics. We propose a more flexible viewpoint that accommodates different cultural and religious values in interpreting autonomy and applying it in an increasingly multilingual and multicultural, contemporaneous society in order to provide the highest level of care possible.

Fasting during the month of Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam, a recurring annual ritual, which is passionately practiced by most Muslims across the world. It is obligatory on every healthy Muslim; however, the Qur’an and Islamic teachings specifically exempt people with acute or chronic illnesses from this duty, especially if it might have harmful consequences. Muslims with diabetes are exempted from fasting, but many of them still fast during Ramadan, for their personal convictions as revealed by EPIDIAR study which showed that 43% of patients with type 1 diabetes and 79% with type 2 diabetes fasted during Ramadan. Muslims constitute about a quarter of the world’s population who are spread all over the globe. It is inevitable that health care issues peculiar to them will be encountered worldwide and health care providers will have to counsel them regarding medications and whether it is safe to undertake the fast. This paper is an update on the management of Ramadan fasting based on current evidence from published literature and expert opinions.

A retrospective review of all bronchoscopy cases for investigation of lung cancer between January 1997 and December 1999 was done. The cases were included if endobronchial mass was visible (Group A) or when there was an abnormal mucosa and/or bronchial narrowing in the absence of a mass (Group B). All patients in Group A (n = 177) underwent endobronchial biopsy (EB) bronchial brushings (BB) and bronchial washings (BW). All cases in Group B underwent transbronchial biopsy (TBB), BB and BW. Only a small increase in the positive results for cancer was seen when cytology specimens (BB and BW) were added to EB (85.3% vs 88.1%, McNemar's P = 0.06) in Group A but there was a significant increase in Group B (37.3% vs 54.2%. McNemar's, P = 0.001). Therefore although cytology specimens did not significantly add to overall yield of positive results when endobronchial lesions were visible, when mass lesions were not visible, cytology specimens increased the yield by 16.9%.
*Biopsy ; Bronchi/*pathology ; *Bronchoscopy ; *Cytological Techniques ; Lung Neoplasms/*pathology ; Retrospective Studies