Sunday, October 1, 2023
This article is intended for clinicians who want to maintain a current understanding of recent research and evidence in the association between fasting, religious affiliation, and cardiovascular disease risk.
The goal of this activity is to provide medical news to primary care clinicians and other healthcare professionals in order to enhance patient care.
As an organization accredited by the ACCME, Medscape, LLC requires everyone who is in a position to control the content of an education activity to disclose all relevant financial relationships with any commercial interest. The ACCME defines "relevant financial relationships" as financial relationships in any amount, occurring within the past 12 months, including financial relationships of a spouse or life partner, that could create a conflict of interest.
Medscape, LLC encourages Authors to identify investigational products or off-label uses of products regulated by the US Food and Drug Administration, at first mention and where appropriate in the content.
Medscape, LLC is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
Medscape, LLC designates this educational activity for a maximum of 0.25
AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™
. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity. Medscape Medical News has been reviewed and is acceptable for up to 300 Prescribed credits by the American Academy of Family Physicians. AAFP accreditation begins 09/01/07. Term of approval is for 1 year from this date. This activity is approved for 0.25 Prescribed credits. Credit may be claimed for 1 year from the date of this activity. AAFP credit is subject to change based on topic selection throughout the accreditation year.
For questions regarding the content of this activity, contact the accredited provider for this CME/CE activity noted above. For technical assistance, contact [email protected]
There are no fees for participating in or receiving credit for this online educational activity. For information on applicability
and acceptance of continuing education credit for this activity, please consult your professional licensing board.
This activity is designed to be completed within the time designated on the title page; physicians should claim only those
credits that reflect the time actually spent in the activity. To successfully earn credit, participants must complete the
activity online during the valid credit period that is noted on the title page.
Follow these steps to earn CME/CE credit*:
You may now view or print the certificate from your CME/CE Tracker. You may print the certificate but you cannot alter it.
Credits will be tallied in your CME/CE Tracker and archived for 5 years; at any point within this time period you can print
out the tally as well as the certificates by accessing "Edit Your Profile" at the top of your Medscape homepage.
*The credit that you receive is based on your user profile.
CME Released: 11/14/2007
Valid for credit through: 11/14/2008, 11:59 PM EST
processing....
from Heartwire
— a professional news service of WebMD
The supporter had no role in selecting the study or interview sources for news coverage, and it did not review or approve
the news article before publication.
November 14, 2007 (Orlando) — Regular fasting among Mormons may account, at least in part, for their lower risk of cardiovascular disease, a new study suggests [1]. According to researchers in Utah, fasting was the strongest predictor of reduced heart disease among people who identified themselves as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints (LDS), but also among people who routinely fasted for nonreligious reasons.
Dr Benjamin Horne (Intermountain Medical Center, Murray, UT) presented the results of the study during the American Heart Association (AHA) 2007 Scientific Sessions last week. In an interview with heartwire , Horne explained that studies dating back three decades have indicated that the LDS population lives longer than non-LDS Americans, a finding attributed partly to the fact that the religion forbids smoking. "But smoking isn't the only risk factor for CVD [cardiovascular disease], and because the lower risk is so substantial, we felt there could be other factors," he said.
For the first part of the study, Horne and colleagues looked at more than 4600 participants in the Intermountain Heart Collaborative Study registry and stratified coronary heart disease risk according to religious preference. Compared with 1467 people who identified themselves as being non-LDS, people who identified themselves as LDS Mormons had a significantly reduced incidence of coronary artery disease (CAD; 66% vs 61%, odds ratio [OR] = 0.81, p=0.009).
In a second analysis, Horne et al surveyed 515 patients scheduled to undergo coronary angiography about religious practices and other behaviors relating to religion that might affect CAD risk. They found that those who said they fasted regularly—regardless of religious beliefs—were significantly less likely to have CAD identified on coronary angiogram. For the purposes of the study, fasting was defined as no food or drink for at least two consecutive meals.
Roughly 8% of people surveyed said they fasted regularly but were not LDS, and these men and women also had reduced CAD, Horne noted.
CAD according to Fasting Status
| Group | Fasting (%) | Nonfasting (%) | 95% CI | p |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All patients | 59 | 67 | 0.38-0.97 | 0.037 |
According to Horne, 70% of the population of Utah is LDS, making this a "sizable" group in whom to study the effects of fasting: LDS Mormons fast once a month for 24 hours. While the study does not conclusively link fasting to cardioprotection, there are a number of possible hypotheses that might explain the effect.
The most plausible, he said, is that recurring, temporary food deprivation might have an effect on body metabolism, serving as a reminder to the body to delve into its stores for nutrients, rather than relying on food intake. "Fasting could have some effect on resensitizing the body to glucose and insulin," Horne said, citing an animal study published in Nature earlier this year that suggested that animals subjected to periods of fasting lived longer than animals eating a normal diet and that certain genes upregulated during the fasting period seemed to have some benefit on glycogen, the molecule that stores glucose.
Another possible explanation is that people who fast may also have better awareness and control over their diet generally, enabling them to exercise better restraint in their day-to-day lives. Horne pointed out that other recent studies have also shown that people who practice "caloric restriction"—eating 20% to 30% less than the general population—also seem to have greater longevity.
"Obviously we need to follow up on several different questions raised by these data," Horne said. "The implication is that people could fast periodically and potentially receive some cardiac benefit, even if they're not fasting for religious purposes. There could be some interaction with diet that could have positive coronary artery disease-reducing benefits.... There are more questions than answers, but it's a very interesting concept that I think people could adopt in their lifestyle and have some coronary benefit."
Diabetics, however, should not try fasting to improve their CVD risk profile, he added.
Source
The complete contents of Heartwire , a professional news service of WebMD, can be found at www.theheart.org, a Web site for cardiovascular healthcare professionals.
