Background: Egyptian Christians account for about 10%-15% of the population; the largest absolute number in the Middle East and North Africa. The Lent period is one of the three principal fasting periods which is less documented in the scientific literature.
Objectives: To evaluate the effect of Lenten fasting on anthropometric measures, biochemical and glycemic parameters in Christian patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.
Methods: A prospective study, which was carried out in Assiut university hospital clinics of internal medicine during the period between February and May 2018 on 125 Christian patients with type 2 diabetes who fasted the Lent. The study was carried out in 3 phases.A semi-structured questionnaire was used to assess the risk category of fasting. Data were presented as mean ± standard deviation.
Results: Fasting blood glucose decreased significantly during, and after the fast.The number of patients with fasting blood glucose <8 mmol/L increased during fasting from 24.8% to 32.0%.Hypoglycemia during fasting occurred in 12.8% of patients. Hyperglycemia and dehydration were the main causes of breaking the fast.Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol increased during and after the fast. There was no significant change in high density lipoprotein cholesterol. Body weight of patients did not significantly change during fasting.
Conclusion: The Lenten fasting affected different biochemical parameters of fasting diabetic patients. The variations in the amount and type of diets of fasting patients caused variations in the results among patients of the study and between this study and the other studies.
Keywords: Diabetes; Egypt; Hypoglycemia; The Lent fasting.
Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.