Experts say drinking sufficient water could prevent heart failure

EXPERTS in a new study say that staying well-hydrated always could reduce the risk of developing heart failure by preventing or at least slowing down the changes within the heart that lead to heart failure.

Researchers in a new study presented at the ESC Congress 2021 stated that individuals need to pay attention to the amount of fluid consumed every day and take action if they find that they drink too little.

The researchers had examined whether hydration habits that can predict the development of heart failure 25 years later as well as the connection between hydration and thickening of the walls of the heart’s main pumping chamber (left ventricle) called left ventricular hypertrophy, which is a precursor to heart failure diagnosis.

The analysis was performed in 15,792 adults in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study. They were 44 to 66 years old at recruitment and were evaluated over five visits until age 70 to 90. They tested their blood sodium level and determined the proportion of people who developed heart failure and left ventricular hypertrophy at visit five (25 years later).

They found that a higher blood sodium level remained significantly associated with heart failure and left ventricular hypertrophy after adjusting for other factors related to the development of heart failure. These are age, blood pressure, kidney function, blood cholesterol, blood glucose, body mass index, sex and smoking status.

According to them, the risks of both left ventricular hypertrophy and heart failure at age 70 to 90 began to increase when blood sodium level exceeded 142 mmol/l in midlife.

In addition, they suggested that a blood sodium level exceeding 142mmol/l may help physicians during regular physical examinations to identify people whose usual fluid intake should be assessed.

The study’s author, Dr. Natalia Dmitrieva of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, US declared: “Our study suggests that maintaining good hydration can prevent or at least slow down the changes within the heart that lead to heart failure.

“It is natural to think that hydration and blood sodium level should change day to day depending on how much we drink on each day. However, blood sodium concentration remains within a narrow range over long periods, which is likely related to habitual fluid consumption.”

Recommendations on daily fluid intake vary from 1.6 to 2.1 litres for women and two to three litres for men. However, worldwide surveys have shown that many people do not meet even the lower ends of these ranges.

The sodium level in the blood is a precise measure of hydration status: when people drink less fluid, the blood sodium level increases. The body then attempts to conserve water, activating processes known to contribute to the development of heart failure.

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