Medical Application
See also: Fasting and surgery and Body cleansingFasting is often indicated prior to surgery or other procedures that require general anesthetics, because of the risk of pulmonary aspiration of gastric contents after induction of anesthesia (i.e., vomiting and inhaling the vomit, causing life-threatening aspiration pneumonia). Additionally, certain medical tests, such as cholesterol testing (lipid panel) or certain blood glucose measurements require fasting for several hours so that a baseline can be established. In the case of cholesterol, failure to fast for a full 12 hours (including vitamins) will guarantee an elevated triglyceride measurement.
People near the end of their lives sometimes consciously refuse food and/or water. The term in the medical literature is patient refusal of nutrition and hydration.
Read more about this topic: Fasting
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