Magic Stories

Despite Blaine’s Indulgence, Docs Gain Some Insight
David Blaine at End of 44 Days

Remember how David Blaine took center stage by doing nothing for 44-days back in October 2003?

Part of the reason he was there — we were told — was not just the
approximately $2,000,000.00 he received from SKYTV but to help doctors
study starvation.

We were critical of Mr. Blaine’s post-stunt refusal to comply with the doctors’ orders and his early termination of the study.

Quinlan’s Inside Magic for November 28, 2003 contained one of our most caustic attacks
on any magician or person. 

We weren’t proud of our sharp pen, but we
felt it was justified.  The physicians intended to use the study to
benefit those who suffer starvation during chemo and radiation
therapy. 

As you can imagine, there are few volunteers willing to
starve for 44-days. 

We wrote:

In keeping with Mr. Blaine?s tradition of looking out
for himself, he stayed within the confines of Dr. Powell-Tuck?s program
for just four days.

Despite the fact that Dr. Powell-Tuck was going to use the
information to help those critically ill or cancer-affected patients
keep their nutrition at a level that would allow them to live longer
and with less ill effects, Mr. Blaine broke the promise and ate fish
and chips in the Hospital cafeteria.

So he demonstrated he was able to go 44 days without food, and four
days with a regimented diet before going off the reservation.

We don?t know what to think. Maybe 48 days (even with the last four
days with 800 to 1,000 calories a day) was the maximum Mr. Blaine could
go.

Maybe he wasn?t really starving for 44 days but was really starving
for four days after he got out of the box. Maybe he didn?t really care
about the needs of cancer patients.

Maybe it is all about Mr. Blaine and to heck with anyone else.

The results based on the incomplete study were apparently not
sufficient for a peer-reviewed study or formal article.  Rather the
cursory test results were published in the November 24th edition of the
New England Journal of Medicine in the form of a letter from the Queen Mary University of London Medical School.

Doctors responsible for treating the magician David Blaine
following his 44 day fast in a suspended glass box said he lost 24.5kg
– 25 per cent of his original body weight – and his body-mass index
(body weight divided by the square of height in metres) dropped from
29.0 to 21.6.

Blaine was cared for by Jeremy Powell-Tuck, Professor of Clinical
Nutrition, at Barts and The London, Queen Mary’s School of Medicine and
Dentistry. He and colleague M?rta Korbonits, Reader in Endocrinology at
the School, monitored the performance artist’s progress following the
stunt in London in October 2003.

For the first three days Blaine underwent re-feeding with a liquid meal
and oral vitamin and mineral supplements. Blaine’s metabolic status
when he arrived at hospital immediately after the fast showed normal
blood sugar levels but elevated levels of fatty acids,…

David Blaine at End of 44 Days

Remember how David Blaine took center stage by doing nothing for 44-days back in October 2003?

Part of the reason he was there — we were told — was not just the
approximately $2,000,000.00 he received from SKYTV but to help doctors
study starvation.

We were critical of Mr. Blaine’s post-stunt refusal to comply with the doctors’ orders and his early termination of the study.

Quinlan’s Inside Magic for November 28, 2003 contained one of our most caustic attacks
on any magician or person. 

We weren’t proud of our sharp pen, but we
felt it was justified.  The physicians intended to use the study to
benefit those who suffer starvation during chemo and radiation
therapy. 

As you can imagine, there are few volunteers willing to
starve for 44-days. 

We wrote:

In keeping with Mr. Blaine?s tradition of looking out
for himself, he stayed within the confines of Dr. Powell-Tuck?s program
for just four days.

Despite the fact that Dr. Powell-Tuck was going to use the
information to help those critically ill or cancer-affected patients
keep their nutrition at a level that would allow them to live longer
and with less ill effects, Mr. Blaine broke the promise and ate fish
and chips in the Hospital cafeteria.

So he demonstrated he was able to go 44 days without food, and four
days with a regimented diet before going off the reservation.

We don?t know what to think. Maybe 48 days (even with the last four
days with 800 to 1,000 calories a day) was the maximum Mr. Blaine could
go.

Maybe he wasn?t really starving for 44 days but was really starving
for four days after he got out of the box. Maybe he didn?t really care
about the needs of cancer patients.

Maybe it is all about Mr. Blaine and to heck with anyone else.

The results based on the incomplete study were apparently not
sufficient for a peer-reviewed study or formal article.  Rather the
cursory test results were published in the November 24th edition of the
New England Journal of Medicine in the form of a letter from the Queen Mary University of London Medical School.

Doctors responsible for treating the magician David Blaine
following his 44 day fast in a suspended glass box said he lost 24.5kg
– 25 per cent of his original body weight – and his body-mass index
(body weight divided by the square of height in metres) dropped from
29.0 to 21.6.

Blaine was cared for by Jeremy Powell-Tuck, Professor of Clinical
Nutrition, at Barts and The London, Queen Mary’s School of Medicine and
Dentistry. He and colleague M?rta Korbonits, Reader in Endocrinology at
the School, monitored the performance artist’s progress following the
stunt in London in October 2003.

For the first three days Blaine underwent re-feeding with a liquid meal
and oral vitamin and mineral supplements. Blaine’s metabolic status
when he arrived at hospital immediately after the fast showed normal
blood sugar levels but elevated levels of fatty acids, typical of
long-term fasting.

He had vitamin B1 and B6 deficiency and these were replenished
immediately after admission to hospital. Haemoconcentration was
observed on the day Blaine was admitted and by day 10 there was a
slight oedema.

His grossly elevated levels of vitamin B12 and high zinc and liver
enzyme levels suggest liver function impairment, and he had low levels
of insulin and very low levels of insulin-like growth factor 1, these
changes are again characteristic findings in long-term starving.

He had very low levels of appetite-regulating hormones leptin and
ghrelin. Blaine did not experience hunger for the first couple of days
upon ending the fast but his appetite increased considerably
immediately after an elevation in plasma levels of metabolic hormones
orexin A and resistin.

You can check out an excerpt of the study’s results at the New England Journal of Medicine web site here.  It will cost you $10.00 to get the full-text of the study.

   

Photo Credit –
        Queen Mary University of London 

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