Tahneek practice and use of dextrose/glucose gel in neonatal hypoglycemia

In this article, we discussed tahneek practiceand use of dextrose/glucose gel in neonatalhypoglycemia (NH) to draw attention to tahneekpractice in newborn infants. NH is a commonmetabolic problem in newborn infants. There are stillno data available that define how low a glucoseconcentration must be, respectively how long it mustpersist at which level to cause brain injury inneonates. An universal approach to diagnosis andmanagement of NH is still lacking. Oraldextrose/glucose gel is the recommended first linefor the management of NH in many guidelines;however, more data on safety and efficacy and theeffect of dextrose/glucose gel long-termneurological outcome are needed. Date is anessential high-energy food with a low-glycemicindex. Tahneek, a rubbing process of an chewed date on the soft palate of the neonate immediately afterdelivery, has been performed for over 1,400 years,because it is one of the Prophet Muhammad’s(Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) sunnahs. We thinkthat tahneek practice can be used in the prophylaxisand treatment of NH. Furthermore, tahneek practicemay be more effective and safer than dextro-se/glucose gel in correcting NH because it is moreadvantageous than oral dextrose/glucose gel in manyfeatures. However, no clinical trial has beenpublished about use of tahneek practice in newborninfants. We strongly recommend that randomizedcontrolled studies, including large series, should beconducted about effects of tahneek practice on NH.