Can Fasting in the Holy Month of Ramadan Affect on the Levels of Luteinizing Hormone, Follicle-Stimulating Hormone, and Prolactin?

Abstract

<span style="font-size: 8.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Cambria',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; letter-spacing: .1pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: FA;">Adherence to the recommendations and obligations of Islam is of great importance in achieving a desirable lifestyle. Fasting in the holy month of Ramadan is one of the main principles of Islam, in which Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, oral medications, and smoking from Fajr (pre-dawn) to Maghrib (sunset). Islamic rules dictate that fasting is unacceptable if it causes harm to the health of an individual. Luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), and prolactin (PRL), which are secreted by the pituitary gland, play a key role in maintaining health. LH and FSH are predominantly involved in setting the normal function of the reproductive system and PRL has a key role in lactation, and collapsed levels of these hormones is associated with severe health problems. Given the conditions of Islamic fasting and importance of the normalized levels of these hormones in fasting individuals, the effects of Islamic fasting on these parameters must be investigated thoroughly. This review was performed to evaluate the credible published articles collected via searching in databases such as Science Direct, Google Scholar, and PubMed. According to the results, Ramadan fasting has no adverse effects on the concentrations of LH, FSH, and PRL. </span><br />