David Blaine lost 25% of body weight during glass box fast

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 28 Nov 2005 - 0:00 PST

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Doctors responsible for treating the magician David Blaine following his 44 day fast in a suspended glass box said he lost 24.5kg - 25 per cent of his original body weight - and his body-mass index (body weight divided by the square of height in metres) dropped from 29.0 to 21.6 in a letter to the New England Journal of Medicine published on 24 November 2005

Blaine was cared for by Jeremy Powell-Tuck, Professor of Clinical Nutrition, at Barts and The London, Queen Mary's School of Medicine and Dentistry. He and colleague Márta Korbonits, Reader in Endocrinology at the School, monitored the performance artist's progress following the stunt in London in October 2003.

For the first three days Blaine underwent re-feeding with a liquid meal and oral vitamin and mineral supplements. Blaine's metabolic status when he arrived at hospital immediately after the fast showed normal blood sugar levels but elevated levels of fatty acids, typical of long-term fasting.

He had vitamin B1 and B6 deficiency and these were replenished immediately after admission to hospital. Haemoconcentration was observed on the day Blaine was admitted and by day 10 there was a slight oedema.

His grossly elevated levels of vitamin B12 and high zinc and liver enzyme levels suggest liver function impairment, and he had low levels of insulin and very low levels of insulin-like growth factor 1, these changes are again characteristic findings in long-term starving.

He had very low levels of appetite-regulating hormones leptin and ghrelin. Blaine did not experience hunger for the first couple of days upon ending the fast but his appetite increased considerably immediately after an elevation in plasma levels of metabolic hormones orexin A and resistin.

Queen Mary, University of London

Queen Mary is one of the largest Colleges in the University of London. Its roots lie in four historic colleges: Queen Mary College, Westfield College, St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College and the London Hospital Medical College. Pooling strengths, expertise and resources, Queen Mary is now fully integrated.

The College currently has over 10,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students, with an academic and support staff of around 2600. It is organised into the four faculties of Arts; Engineering and Mathematical Sciences; Law and Social Sciences; and Natural Sciences, and Barts and The London, Queen Mary's School of Medicine and Dentistry. It is a research university, with over 80% of research staff working in departments where research is of international or national excellence (RAE 2001). It has a strong international reputation, with over 20 per cent of students coming from over 100 countries.

QUEEN MARY, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON
University of London,
Mile End Road,
London,
E1 4NS,
United Kingdom
http://www.qmw.ac.uk