Minnesota Starvation Experiment
The Minnesota Starvation Experiment was a medical experiment carried out at the University of Minnesota in 1944 and developed and carried out by nutritionist Ancel Keys in order to research the effects of starvation on the human organism and the most effective countermeasures possible. The attempt consisted in a group of conscientious objectors voluntarily submitting themselves to extreme malnutrition under observation for months and then using various methods of restorative health.
History and overview
In 1944 the Second World War raged , and with it hunger and starvation. Over the centuries people had written anecdotal accounts of the effects of hunger, but there was little scientific literature on the subject that described the physiological and psychological effects of hunger. As a result, doctors and researchers weren't sure how to help people so they could recover from the effects of hunger as quickly as possible.
Ancel Keys, PhD in Physiology in the University of Minnesota Laboratory, worked with Josef Brozek , the laboratory's chief psychologist, to prepare an experiment to systematically explore the effects of malnutrition and possible therapies. Brozek was responsible for collecting data on the psychological effects of hunger.
The experiment was funded by the office of the Surgeon General of the United States , Mennonite, Brethren, Quaker, and Unitarian organizations, and some private donors.
Goal of the experiment
The main aim of the Minnesota experiment was to exhaustively describe the physical and psychological effects of hunger on healthy men through their observation under normal conditions, in a state of hunger and subsequent rehabilitation, in order to be able to objectively compare the effectiveness of different interventions.
Selection of test subjects
The selection of the test persons was subject to strict criteria. Subjects were required to be male, unattached, and in good physical and mental health. Mental health was largely checked using the then newly developed Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory . Furthermore, the test persons were selected in such a way that they could get along well with others under difficult circumstances and showed an interest in community service.
Keys recruited the conscientious objectors to volunteer , young men who had decided to join the Civilian Public Service as an alternative to military service. Many, if not all, of these men were members of the historic peace churches ( Church of the Brethren , Seventh-day Adventists , Quakers, and Mennonites ).
According to these criteria, 36 men were selected from more than 200 volunteers and began the experiment in November 1944 at the University of Minnesota.
The median age of the participants was 25.5 years, their mean weight was 152.7 pounds (76.35 kg) and their mean height was 5 feet 10 inches (1.78 m).
Course of the experiment
The experiment was divided into three phases:
Control period
The experiment began with a three-month control period in which the men received a normal diet of around 13,400 kJ (= 3,200 kcal) per day, while their strength, endurance, dexterity, hearing and eyesight, intelligence, personality traits and sperm motivation were examined. Each participant was asked to keep a personal diary during the experiment.
"Semistarvation"
Their diet was based on foods that were widely available in Europe at the time, mainly potatoes, root vegetables, bread and pasta.
Overall, the experiment was psychologically stressful, also for the experimenters:
“What am I doing to these young men? I had no idea that it would be so difficult. "
rehabilitation
The period of restriction was followed by a restricted rehabilitation period of three months, during which study participants consumed food energy totaling 8,370 to 13,400 kJ (= 2,000 to 3,200 kcal) per day.
They were divided into four groups, each with a differently increased energy intake (increased by 400 kcal, 800 kcal, 1200 kcal or 1600 kcal). Finally, an eight-week rehabilitation followed, during which there was no upper limit for calorie intake.
Throughout the course of the experiment, the men were expected to work 15 hours per week in the university laboratory, walk 22 miles, and participate in a variety of educational activities for 25 hours.
The Minnesota Starvation Experiment ended in October 1945.
Results
Ultimately, data from 32 of the 36 participants was published in the final monograph and tables. Two volunteers stopped the experiment, two more were excluded; one of them stole ice cream and milk as well as turnips, another regularly ate leftover food from garbage cans.
1946 Interim Results - Men and Hunger: A Psychological Manual for Relief Workers
In 1946 the researchers published a 70-page guide for aid workers in Europe and Asia. It was entitled Men and Hunger: A Psychological Manual for Relief Workers (English for "Men and Hunger"):
The advice includes:
- Show no bias and refrain from arguments; the starving are ready to quarrel at the slightest provocation, but they usually repent immediately.
- Letting the group know what is being done and why is just as important as getting the jobs done - posters are the easiest way to do this.
- The state of hunger increases the need for privacy and quiet - noise of all kinds seems to be very stressful for the starving, and this particularly affects meals.
- Energy is a commodity that needs to be hoarded; Living and eating quarters should therefore be clearly laid out.
- A caring helper will take into account the fact that the hungry are emotionally affected by the weather - some special and joyful activities should be reserved for bad days.
1950 Final Results - The Biology of Human Starvation
The definitive results of the experiment were not published by Keys and his colleagues until 1950 in a two-volume monograph entitled The Biology of Human Starvation . The 1,385-page text represents the first comprehensive report on the physiological and psychological effects of hunger and the reintroduction of an adequate diet and contains detailed test results for each of the participants.
Reactions to the "semistarvation"
Source:
- Compared to the control period, the physical endurance of the participants fell by half
- Her physical strength decreased by about 10%
- Her reflexes became measurably sluggish
- The resting metabolic rate decreased
- The heart volume decreased by 20%
- The body temperature dropped
- Participants reported difficulty concentrating, and impaired judgment and understanding
- Participants complained of dizziness, impaired vision, ringing in the ears, tingling and numbness of their extremities, abdominal pain, body aches and headaches, sleep disorders, hair thinning
- Sexual desire and testicle size decrease until the participants lose all interest in sex
- The participants showed physical signs of accelerated aging.
Reception of the results
The results of the experiment influenced general scientific attitudes about the mutability of the human body, as they revealed that diet alone had a major impact on basic body functions such as blood pressure, cholesterol levels and heart rate, areas that were previously thought to be individual be fixed.
The experiment is also cited by researchers studying anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa .
Interviews with participants in 2004
Nearly 60 years after the Minnesota experiment ended, 19 of the 36 original participants were still alive, and 18 of them were interviewed on a project from July 2003 to February 2004.
See also
literature
- Todd Tucker: The Great Starvation Experiment: Ancel Keys and the Men Who Starved for Science. University of Minnesota Press, 2007
- John R. Butterly, Jack Shepherd: Hunger: The Biology and Politics of Starvation. UPNE - Geisel Series in Global Health and Medicine Series, 2010
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i The psychology of hunger - Amid the privations of World War II, 36 men voluntarily starved themselves so that researchers and relief workers could learn about how to help people recover from starvation
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i L. M. Kalm, RD Semba: They Starved So That Others Be Better Fed: Remembering Ancel Keys and the Minnesota Experiment . In: The Journal of Nutrition , 2005
- ^ The Great Starvation Experiment, 1944–1945. Mad Science Museum; accessed on May 22, 2015.
- ↑ 70 years ago, the Minnesota Starvation Experiment changed lives. Pioneer Press, Nov. 18, 2014
- ↑ Keys to his wife
- ^ The Minnesota starvation experiment. BBC World Service, January 20, 2014
- ^ Effects of Semi-starvation on Behavior and Physical Health The Minnesota Experiment . ( Memento of September 8, 2015 in the Internet Archive ; PDF) 2005