Medical report of Team Anna a mystery

Ketone levels fall instead of rising; Team Anna doctor says its naturopathy,experts not convinced

As Anna Hazare and his team are all set to end their fast on Friday,the medical story behind this nine-day fast by three of his team one of them diabetic is creating flutters.

Trends in fluctuations of ketone bodies,considered a vital indicator of the bodys failing metabolism,with lack of glucose in the body have been something of a miracle for all three. When the sugar intake is cut,the body first uses its stored reserves. After these are used up in 24-48 hours the body starts breaking down fat for energy. Ketone is a by-product of this process. With continued fasting,ketone bodies are expected to rise,more so in diabetics with their compromised metabolic system.

Health indicators provided by India Against Corruption on press notes show ketone levels first dropped instead of increasing for Arvind Kejriwal,Manish Sisodia and Gopal Rai. Rais ketone levels have increased after a drop while the other two have maintained their levels. That these levels are contradicted in the IACs Facebook page has further deepened the mystery.

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On July 28,Kejriwals and Sisodias ketone levels stood at +3,while Rai had +4. However,on the Facebook, Rais ketone level stood at +3. On July 30,the health report stated Kejriwals ketone dropped to +2,while on Facebook,it was +1. While the press release indicated Sidodias levels were maintained at +3,on Facebook,they are shown at +1. Rais ketones,as per press release,dropped to +3,while on Facebook,it was +2.

As per Dr Ran Singh Arya,Team Annas naturopath,ensuring that they gradually increased their water intake,and seeing that they rested enough,and frequent accupressure,had managed to control their ketone levels. For Arvindji especially,we started preparing for the fast two-three months in advance, said Arya. Dr Vivek Mittal,the teams allopathic doctor,said,I saw naturopathy experts increasing the water intake to 6-7 litres,and it helped improve ketone levels.

However,citys leading doctors are not convinced.

Dr Surender Kumar,chairman,endocrinology and metabolism department at Sir Ganga Ram hospital,said,Its not scientifically possible for ketone levels to decrease without breaking the fast,according to metabolic theory.

Dr Anoop Mishra,chairperson,endocrinology at Fortis hospital,said,A 1-2 point drop is not a significant drop. Ketone bodies should increase with fasting,especially for diabetes patients,but urine levels may show temporary variations with water levels.

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Dr Ambrish Mithal,HoD of endocrinology at Medanta Medicity,said water intake could dilute ketone levels temporarily but not stop its production.