Fasting Literature Database

Effects of a 24 hour fast were studied in 21 obese children aged 7 to 14 and in 8 controls. Mean blood glucose (BG) during fast dropped more in controls (0.88 to 0.54 g/l) than in obese (0.90 to 0.63 g/l) Plasma cortisol changes were similar in the 2 groups, FFA increased (p less than 0.01) in the 2 groups, but the 24 hour mean level was higher in controls (4.0 mEq/l) than in obese (2.06 mEq/l… Read More

Serum and urine uric acid were evaluated during prolonged therapeutic fasting in 15 obese patients. With increasing ketonemia the serum uric acid rose from a control value of 5.9 +/- 0.4 to 12.5 +/- 1.0 mg/100 ml at 7 days and then decreased progressively to 7.7 +/- 1.3 mg/100 ml by 28 days despite sustained ketonemia. The uric acid clearance were 5.5 +/- 0.9, 1.8 +/- 0.2, and 4.4 +/- 1.5 ml/… Read More

Serum stimulates the production of prostaglandins by transformed mouse fibroblasts. Hydrocortisone (cortisol) inhibits this stimulation. The half-maximal inhibition occurs at 6x10-9 M. Studies with cells labeled with [3H]arachidonic acid in their lipids show that the stimulation by serum results in the release of arachidonic acid from the cellular lipids, mostly phospholipids. Hydrocortisone… Read More

The effects of a four to six day fast on gallbladder bile lipid composition, bile acid pool size, bile acid composition, and cholic acid metabolism have been determined in normal human subjects. Total bile acid pool size and cholic acid pool size were measured before and after fasting by a one-sample technique previously validated in our laboratory. The rate of synthesis of cholic acid and its… Read More

In 24 normal and 24 obese subjects of both sexes circulating substrates (blood sugar, free fatty acids, ketone bodies) and hormones (insulin, growth hormone, pancreatic glucagon) were determined during 6 days of total fast. In normals the blood sugar fell to lower levels than in the obese. Plasma free fatty acids and ketone concentrations rose faster in normal than in obese subjects, and… Read More

Serum concentrations of triiodothyronine (T3), thyroxine (T4), and TSH were examined in seven men and seven women of normal weight during a 60-hr fast. Similar studies were conducted in two women who received daily for 1 mo before and during a similar fast, 0.4 mg and 0.5 mg of 1-thyroxine. The serum concentrations of T3 decreased in each of the untreated normal subjects (sign test of… Read More

In man the first days of fasting are characterized by enhanced natriuresis despite an increase in aldosterone secretion. Therefore the possibility of a decreased renal tubular sensitivity to this hormone was considered. The response to aldosterone infused before a fast and again on day 4 of fasting was evaluated in 12 starving obese women in terms of urinary sodium, chloride and potassium… Read More

Administration of KC1 0.5 mmol/kg/day to subjects undergoin prolonged starvation reduced daily urinary ammonium and beta-hydroxybutyrate excretion by one-third. These changes were accompanied by an improvement in potassium balance and an increased rate of chloride excretion. A similar fall in ammonium excretion occurred in a second group of subjects after administration of KHCO3 0.5 mmol/kg/… Read More