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CC BY 4.0 · Journal of Health and Allied Sciences NU 2024; 14(S 01): S149-S150
DOI: 10.1055/s-0044-1787714
Letter to the Editor

Clarifications and Concerns Regarding the Therapeutic Fasting in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients

Vijakumar Venugopal
1   Department of Yoga, Government Yoga and Naturopathy Medical College and Hospital, The Tamil Nadu Dr. M.G.R. Medical University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
,
Kuppusamy Maheshkumar 
2   Department of Physiology, Government Yoga and Naturopathy Medical College and Hospital, The Tamil Nadu Dr. M.G.R. Medical University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
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Therapeutic Fasting and Vitamin D Levels: A New Dimension in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Prevention and Management—A Brief ReportJournal of Health and Allied Sciences NU 2024; 14(04): 550-555
DOI: 10.1055/s-0044-1778717

Therapeutic Fasting and Vitamin D Levels: A New Dimension in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Prevention and Management—A Brief Report

We read the article by Nair et al with great interest.[1] In this observational study, authors reported significant improvements observed in vitamin D and B12 levels, fasting blood sugar, blood pressure, anthropometric measures, and overall quality of life among the 26 type 2 diabetes mellitus patients undergoing a 10-day medically supervised fasting. However, the methodological section needs more clarity on the operational definition used for the intervention “Therapeutic fasting,” as the operational definition of the same is not explained anywhere in the article. “Calorie-restricted diet” would have been a more appropriate terminology to use, rather than calling the intervention as therapeutic “fasting.” Fasting, by definition, is “abstinence from food or caloric intake” for a specific period of time.[2] However, the participants in the study were on a low calorie diet (1000–1200 kcal/day) for 6 days or on a very low calorie diet (400–600 kcal/day) for 4 days.[3] Though there are a few citations in the article on intermittent fasting, there is no mention of whether intermittent fasting was even prescribed to the participants alongside calorie-restricted diet.

Second, the authors have mentioned that the study was conducted at a residential complementary and alternative medicine setting. Fasting is a therapeutic modality used in the Yoga and Naturopathy system of medicine; however, it also includes various other treatment modalities such as hydrotherapy, mud therapy, massage, acupuncture, yoga, etc.[4] Did the participants engage in any other kinds of treatment modalities during their residential period? If no other treatments are given, we are interested to know on what types of activity the participants engaged in throughout their entire day apart from the meal times, in a residential set up.

Third, India has an estimated 74 million adults with diabetes, with China having over 140 million adults with diabetes.[5] Even while considering the prevalence percentage, Pakistan has the highest prevalence of 30.8% and India is not even in the top 10 countries.[5] Mentioning a nation (India) as the “diabetic capital of the world” without proper citation is highly unacceptable.

In conclusion, we appreciate the valuable insights provided by the authors[1] but recommend addressing these concerns to enhance the clarity and precision of the methodology section.



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Artikel online veröffentlicht:
24. Dezember 2024

© 2024. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is properly cited. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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