title: Effect of Reduced Meal Frequency during Ramadan Fasting on Retinal and Choroidal Thickness.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the effects of Ramadan fasting on central foveal thickness (CFT) and subfoveal choroidal thickness (SFCT) in healthy individuals using enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomography (EDI-OCT).
  
  
  METHODS
  The EDI-OCT scans of 42 healthy individuals obtained after about 12 hours of fasting on at least the twenty-first consecutive day of fasting were compared to scans of the same patients taken one month after the last day they had fasted.
  
  
  RESULTS
  CFT values were similar for both time periods (p > 0.05). The SFCT was significantly higher after consecutive fasting days towards the end of Ramadan, compared to the SFCT after one month of no fasting (one month after Ramadan ended) (p < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Ramadan fasting may lead to a significant increase in subfoveal choroidal thickness without affecting the central foveal thickness.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Ophthalmology , Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University School of Medicine , Canakkale , Turkey.
authors.forename: Ismail
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ersan
authors.affiliation: a Department of Ophthalmology , Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University School of Medicine , Canakkale , Turkey.
authors.forename: Hasan Ali
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Tufan
authors.affiliation: a Department of Ophthalmology , Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University School of Medicine , Canakkale , Turkey.
authors.forename: Sedat
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Arikan
authors.affiliation: a Department of Ophthalmology , Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University School of Medicine , Canakkale , Turkey.
authors.forename: Selcuk
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kara
authors.affiliation: a Department of Ophthalmology , Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University School of Medicine , Canakkale , Turkey.
authors.forename: Baran
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gencer
authors.affiliation: b Department of Ophthalmology , Gazi University School of Medicine , Ankara , Turkey.
authors.forename: Ahmet Murat
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Hondur
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002829:Choroid / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D005215:Fasting / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D064368:Healthy Volunteers; D006801:Humans; D007514:Islam; D008297:Male; D062407:Meals; D011446:Prospective Studies; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence / Q000379:methods*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Choroidal thickness; Ramadan fasting; enhanced depth imaging; foveal thickness; spectral domain optical coherence tomography