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

Fasting and hypocaloric diets are known to induce a reduction of triiodothyronine (T3) and to increase reverse triiodothyronine (rT3) in normal and obese subjects. The effect of 8-day fasting was evaluated on T3, thyroxine (T4), free T4, rT3, TSH, immunoreactive insulin (IRI), thyroxine binding globulin (TBG) and glycemia in 21 obese subjects (5 males, 16 females) grouped according to the… Read More

Plasma and urine electrolytes were measured in five healthy non-obese young adults before, during and after a four-day period of total starvation (distilled water only). Plasma sodium, chloride and bicarbonate concentrations decreased in all subjects by a mean value of 4 mmol/l, whereas the sum of acetoacetate and hydroxybutyrate concentrations increased by 4-6 mmol/l. These changes occurred… Read More

Nutrition influences thyroid function at the level of TSH secretion, at the level of monodeiodination, and possibly elsewhere. In order to study the effect of starvation on TSH secretion, 8 healthy male volunteers fasted for 30 h and were then refed with 800 kcal. Refeeding was performed at 19.00 h and blood was sampled at 20 min intervals until midnight. Control experiments were performed in… Read More

To examine the effect of a four-day fast on neutral glyceride mobilization in human adipocytes, subcutaneous abdominal fat tissue was obtained from ten human volunteers after an overnight fast and then after four days of fasting. Plasma insulin concentration decreased from 31 +/- 5 microU/ml before the four-day fast to 9 +/- 1 microU/ml after the fast (P less than 0.05). Plasma free fatty acid… Read More

88 unselected patients with acute pancreatitis entered a randomized clinical trial comparing the therapeutic efficacy of fasting alone, nasogastric suction and fasting plus cimetidine. The disease was mild to moderate in all but 3 cases, and cholelithiasis was the main etiological factor. The number of treatment failures and complications, and the clinical outcome were similar in the three… Read More