Follow-up of patients starved for obesity

A follow-up of 1-50 months is presented in 25 superobese subjects who were starved for an average of 38 days. None of the subjects sustained their weight loss but four have had partial success. The patients had marked difficulty dieting after hospital discharge in the face of routine family and work stresses. The maintenance of weight loss was complicated by the psychological problems which were more apparent in these subjects when they were thin, and by the great amount of energy which they had to devote to dieting particularly when they faced the stresses of daily life outside the hospital. For most patients a return to obesity was more comfortable and tolerable than trying to fight with their problem in the presence of environmental demands. Obesity is a common disorder with an elusive etiology and without a definitive treatment. Prolonged total starvation is a comparatively recent therapy for the severe-ly obese person. Drenick et al1 have de-scribed its use and Spencer et al2 the associ-ated metabolic changes. The fasting technic generally is recommended for use in hos-pitalized subjects who have no other sig-nificant physical or psychological disease. During starvation no caloric intake is pro-vided but intake of fluids, vitamins, and electrolyte replacements is mandatory. Nor