The thermoregulatory responses to graded cooling were measured in 11 healthy male subjects after a 12 h fast and after a 48 h fast. The cooling stimulus was produced by changing the temperature of the skin of the trunk and legs with a water-perfused suit. Five levels of skin temperature from 35.5 to 24 degrees C were applied on each occasion. After a 12 h fast, core temperature was maintained… Read More

The influence of 1 week's total fasting on the lipolytic effect of adrenergic agonists and on the binding of adrenergic antagonists was examined in isolated adipocytes of subcutaneous specimens removed from the hypogastric and the femoral sites in seventeen obese women. In the femoral adipocytes the lipolytic sensitivity to isopropyl noradrenaline decreased 30-fold (P less than 0.01)… Read More

Forty-two adults, visiting a Swedish health home, participated in the investigation, which included a 6-day period of fasting, followed by a 6-day period with a lactovegetarian diet. The results obtained indicated only a minor and mostly not significant influence on secretion rate, buffer effect, concentration of various electrolytes, and number of lactobacilli and S. mutans of whole saliva.… Read More

We infused physiological doses of epinephrine (1.2 microgram/m2 X min) into six healthy obese subjects in the postabsorptive state and after 3-4 days of starvation. During starvation, a reduction in hepatic glycogen stores was demonstrated by the absence of a rise in plasma glucose and glucose production (using [3-3H]glucose) in response to glucagon infusion. The increases in plasma… Read More

Catecholamines have multiple metabolic and fluid-electrolyte as well as cardiovascular effects, and their levels in plasma respond to alterations in nutrient and sodium intakes. Plasma norepinephrine, epinephrine, and dopamine were measured in 12 obese nondiabetic subjects before and after 400 kcal/day diets of either protein or glucose, followed by total fasting, and then by hypocaloric… Read More

Energy expenditure and the circulating concentration of various intermediary metabolites, insulin and glucagon, were measured in five lean subjects at rest and during a 20-min period of a standardized exercise (50-75 watts). Measurements were made before starvation, at the end of a 4-d period of total starvation and 24-32 h after refeeding. The respiratory quotient decreased in all subjects… Read More

A movement opposing the nuclear arms race asked for medical surveillance of four people intending to go without food for an unlimited period. The course of fasting was uneventful until day 28-35, when weight loss reached 18%. In one subject fasting was ended on day 38 owing to development of Wernicke's encephalopathy; the others agreed to suspend their fast by day 40. The presence of… Read More

In 30 obese men, calcium, magnesium, and phosphate balances were measured for 40 days using one of four weight reducing regimens: 1) 400 kcal soy protein; 2) 400 kcal collagen protein; 3) total fasting with potassium; and 4) total fasting without potassium. Relationship of the minerals to each other and to nitrogen and to the QTc interval was also examined. All groups were in negative… Read More

Abnormal serum creatinine (1.6 mg/dL) and creatinine clearance (33 mL/min) levels found in a 50-year-old woman during fasting were corrected with refeeding. Five healthy subjects who fasted for 96 hours demonstrated an increase in their mean serum creatinine level from 1.0 +/- 0.08 to 1.7 +/- 0.11 mg/dL as determined by Jaffe's method. This increase was probably an artifact caused by the… Read More

The turnover of ketone bodies and acetate was evaluated as well from the disappearance rate of (3-14C)acetoacetate or (1-14C)acetate respectively as from the conversion of FFA into these metabolites in normal weight and obese overnight-fasted and in obese long-term starved patients. The disappearance rate of (1-14C)oleate was the same in all three groups. Long-term starvation enhanced ketone… Read More