The Effects of Ramadan Intermittent Fasting (RIF) on Spirometric Data of Stable COPD Patients: A Pilot Study

No previous study has raised the effects of RIF on lung function data of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients. The objective of the present study was to assess the effects of RIF on spirometric data measured in male patients with a stable COPD. Sixteen patients with stable COPD (mean ± SD of age: 64 ± 7 years) who fasted during Ramadan volunteered to the study. Three sessions (Before-R, End-R, and After-R) were selected for spirometry tests that were consistently performed 2.5-4.5 hr before fasting break. Assessment sessions comprised: forced vital capacity (FVC), 1st s forced expiratory volume (FEV₁), FEV₁/FVC, peak expiratory flow (PEF), maximal mid-expiratory flow (MMEF), and forced expiratory flow rate at the x% of FVC to be exhaled (FEFx%). A reversibility test was performed only during the Before-Ramadan session. Spirometric data were expressed in percentages of local reference values. Findings were analyzed by applying repeated measures analysis of variance. The mean ± SD of the postbronchodilator FEV₁/FVC ratio and the FEV₁ were, respectively, 0.52 ± 0.14 and 48 ± 19%. The mean ± SD of FEV₁ (Before-R: 47 ± 19, End-R: 45 ± 18, After-R: 44 ± 19%), FVC (Before-R: 73 ± 18, End-R: 71 ± 16, After-R: 69 ± 17%), FEV₁/FVC (Before-R: 67 ± 16, End-R: 66 ± 16, After-R: 65 ± 16%), PEF (Before-R: 46 ± 19, End-R: 47 ± 22, After-R: 45 ± 21%), MMEF (Before-R: 19 ± 10, End-R: 18 ± 8, After-R: 18 ± 9%), FEF_25% (Before-R: 16 ± 6, End-R: 16 ± 5, After-R: 15 ± 5%), FEF_50% (Before-R: 21 ± 14, End-R: 20 ± 12, After-R: 20 ± 12%) and FEF_75% (Before-R: 27 ± 19, End-R: 27 ± 19, After-R: 27 ± 19%) were not significantly influenced by RIF. RIF did not bring about any significant changes in the spirometric data of stable COPD male patients fasting the 2016 holy month of Ramadan.