American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 11, 270-280, Copyright © 1962 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc.

Starvation Studies

With Special Reference to Cholesterol

¹ From the Clinical Laboratory and Research Laboratory, V. A. Hospital, and the Department of Pathology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee

Forty volunteer subjects underwent various periods of starvation in forty-six separate periods of fasting. Thirty-four of these subjects starved a minimum of seventy-two hours in thirty-nine separate studies.

Cholesterol studies in these thirty-four subjects showed a general tendency for the total serum cholesterol to rise during starvation, particularly on the third and fourth day.

Young men below the age of thirty-five had the highest mean rise in serum cholesterol. The least elevation occurred in older men, particularly those with known atherosclerosis. The difference between older and younger men was considered statistically significant. In normal women below the age of thirty-five the average rise in serum cholesterol was slightly less than in men of a similar age group.

The total white blood cell count and differential white count showed little alteration during starvation. The hematocrit showed a significant drop the day the volunteer subjects stopped their fast, usually dropping below what it was at the beginning of the study.

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