Every year, millions of Muslims all over the world practice religious fasting, from sunrise to sunset during Ramadan. While the impact of fasting on diabetes and hypertension has been well developed, few studies have evaluated the impact of Ramadan fasting on the characteristics of acute coronary syndromes (ACS).

The aim of our study was to compare the characteristics of fasting and no fasting patients admitted for ACS during Ramadan.

Data was collected in a descriptive and prospective cohort study within the Cardiology department of Habib Thamer Hospital. The study included all patients admitted for ACS during Ramadan. We compared the fasting patients to the non fasting patients admitted for ACS in Ramadan.

During Ramadan, 37 patients were admitted for ACS and 22 (59%) fasted. Patients data is described in Table 1. Diabetes rate was significantly higher in the group of non-fasting patients 73%, n=11 versus 36% (n=8) in the fasting group; P=0.027. Hypercholesterolaemia rate was higher in the fasting patients 59% (n=13) versus 20% (n=3); P=0.018. In multivariate analysis, fasting patients admitted to the month of Ramadan had a 12.7-fold risk of having high cholesterol (P=0.046).

Fasting seems to be associated with higher cholesterol levels.