the effect of ramadan fasting on hematological parameters

Background & objectives: ramadan fasting, which entails abstention from eating and drinking for one month, is an obligation for the muslims around the world. this practice has different medical and physiological effects, such as reduced blood pressure, lipid profile, blood glucose level, and body weight. it has been hypothesized that ramadan fasting induces some changes in the hematological parameters. regarding this, the present study aimed to investigate the effect of ramadan fasting on blood cell count and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (esr). materials & methods: this study was conducted on 59 adult healthy individuals (i.e., 34 males and 25 females), who had completed one month of ramadan fasting. fasting blood samples were analyzed for esr, hemoglobin (hb) levels, hematocrit (hct) levels, white blood cell (wbc), platelet count (plt), mean corpuscular volume (mcv), and mean platelet volume (mpv) in four phases (i.e., one day before ramadan, on the second and last weeks of ramadan, as well as one month after ramadan) results: as the results indicated, the participants had an age range of 15-24 years. the means of esr significantly increased within the four phases (except for the phase iv in comparison to phase iii). additionally, the mean hb and hct levels were significantly greater in the phase iii than those in the phase i (p<0.001). furthermore, the mean of mean corpuscular volume decreased significantly within the phases of the study (p<0.001). although the mpv decreased in the phase ii, it returned to the baseline in the phase iv (p=0.028). the mean wbc count decreased during all phases of the study significantly (p=0.003). on the other hand, the mean platelet count mildly increased during this period (p<0.001). conclusion: according to the findings of the study, ramadan fasting has statistically significant effects on hematological parameters, which were within the normal range.