Total fasts of up to two weeks duration have been used effectively in the managemet of grossly obese diabetic patients, Garfield G. Duncan, MD, told the fifth congress of the International Diabetes Federation at Toronto.
Duncan, professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and director of the medical divisions, Pennsylvania Hospital and Benjamin Franklin Clinic, Philadelphia, said intermittent total fasts have a wide application "with considerable promise for the refractory obese patient with adult-acquired diabetes."
Duncan reported on a study of 719 intractably obese patients treated over a three-year period. Of these, 11% had clinically manifest diabetes and an additional 40% had positive glucose tolerance tests. Fifteen patients had gout, and of this number 13 had diabetes. Of the group, 70 patients weighed in excess of 300 lbs, and of these 42 (60%) had diabetes.
INFIDELITY WITH DIETS
"Infidelity with diets is notorious among overweight diabetics,"