ENDOCRINE CHANGES OF INVOLUNTARY PROLONGED FASTING IN HUMAN
-THREE CASES IN COLLAPSE OF SAMPOONG DEPARTMENT STORE-

Oh, Dong Rul; Park, Kyu Nam; Hwang, Joo Il; Lee, Won Jae; Kim, Se Kyung; Oh, Seong Taek; Park, Cho Hyun; Kim, In Chul

J Korean Soc Emerg Med > Volume 6(2); 1995 > Article

Case Report

Journal of The Korean Society of Emergency Medicine 1995;6(2): 449-453.

ENDOCRINE CHANGES OF INVOLUNTARY PROLONGED FASTING IN HUMAN -THREE CASES IN COLLAPSE OF SAMPOONG DEPARTMENT STORE-

Dong Rul Oh¹, Kyu Nam Park¹, Joo Il Hwang¹, Won Jae Lee¹, Se Kyung Kim¹, Seong Taek Oh², Cho Hyun Park², In Chul Kim²

¹Department of Emergency Medicine, Kangnam St' Mary Hospital, Catholic University Medical College
²Department of General Surgery, Kangnam St' Mary Hospital, Catholic University Medical College

Published online: December 31, 1995.

ABSTRACT

The interactions between nutrition and the endocrine system are more intimate and comprex that previously thought. Nutrition modulates secretion and activity of many hormones, as part of the stress adaptation process. Fasting, in particular, produces a number of important changes in the endocrine system, with teleological purpose of helping the body tolerate the lack of food ingestion. These changes are therefore beneficial and protective, although at times they may not appear to be that way. The endocrine changes of fasting mediate the metabolic reponse. We must emphasize that these changes are completely reversible when appropriate nutrition is established. These changes are as followes: 1) decreased insulin and increased glucagon levels, 2) decreased thyroid effect, 3) decreased sympathetic activity, 4) hypothalamic hypogonadism, 5) decreased growth, 6) altered glucocorticoid secretion and metabolism, 7) impaired mineralocorticoid response, 8) decreased ADH secretion and effect. We experienced three cases of involuntary prolonged fasting after collapse of Sampoong department store. They were released from collapsed field after 11(case I), 13(case II), 17dlays(case Ill) respectively. In each case, the endocrine changes of plasma levels were as followes: decrease of cortisol in case I, increase of GH in case II, decrease of free T3, T3, cortisol and increase of reverse T3, insulin in case III. Each one did not show the same endocrine changes of plasma levels. But we think these changes of fasting are beneficial in metabolic response of human.

Key words: Fasting, Endocrine changes