The effects of dopamine blockade on the endocrine and metabolic response to starvation have been investigated by administration of metoclopramide, 30 mg daily, or placebo to five normal subjects fasted for sixty hours on two occasions. Blood glucose and alanine concentrations fell with starvation and metoclopramide had no further effect. Concentrations of the other gluconeogenic precursors,… Read More

The energy metabolism rate, an important parameter in severe clinical polytrauma and burns, is evaluated here using mass conservation law and simple thermodynamic considerations. The expressions for the energy and fat metabolism rates are evaluated utilizing easily measurable quantities: oxygen consumption, CO2 production, and nitrogen excretion rates. The derived equations are identical for… Read More

A patient had substantial jaundice following an uncomplicated appendectomy. After recovery, the hyperbilirubinemia recurred following a 24-hour fast. An analysis to determine the effect of fasting on the bilirubin level in hospitalized patients showed an apparent elevation in the serum unconjugated bilirubin level in the fasting state.

The effect of a prolonged 5-day fast on the blood concentrations of vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP), secretin, human pancreatic polypeptide (hPP), gastrin, and group I pepsinogens (PG I) was studied in 11 healthy subjects. During the fast there was a marked increase in the concentrations of VIP, secretin, and hPP, whereas the rise in the concentrations of gastrin and PG I was less… Read More

The effects of fasting for 7 days were investigated in 13 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in comparison with a control regimen in a cross-over trial. The effects of fasting on clinical performance and blood neutrophil functions were studied. During fasting, with a mean weight loss of 5.1 kg, clinical inflammation in the joints and the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) decreased.… Read More

This study was designed to address the question of whether decreased hypothalamic TRH secretion was responsible for the transient decline in serum TSH levels characteristic of the early phase of fasting in man. Changes in serum TSH, total T4 (TT4), free T4 (FT4), and total T3 (TT3)/TT4 and total rT3(TrT3)/TT4 ratio values together with plasma TRH levels were evaluated before, during, and after… Read More

Sodium DL-3-hydroxybutyrate was administered to obese subjects (more than 150% ideal body-weight) who were either receiving a 2 . 5 MJ (600 kcal) diet containing 34 g protein on one day with a total fast (water and vitamins only) on the next day, for 21 days, or were undergoing therapeutic starvation for 14 days. Both intravenous and oral hydroxybutyrate significantly reduced net body protein… Read More