Sodium, Water Restriction Not Found Beneficial in Heart Failure

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Sodium and water restriction are unnecessary in patients hospitalized for acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF).

(HealthDay News) – Sodium and water restriction are unnecessary in patients hospitalized for acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF), according to a study published online May 20 in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Graziella Badin Aliti, RN, ScD, from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul in Porto Alegre, Brazil, and colleagues randomized adult inpatients with ADHF to either a fluid-restricted (maximum fluid intake, 800mL/d) and sodium-restricted (maximum dietary intake, 800mg/d) diet (intervention group [IG]; 38 patients) or a standard hospital diet with no such restrictions (control group [CG]; 37 patients).

The researchers found that weight loss was similar in both groups (between-group difference in variation of 0.25kg), as was change in clinical congestion score. At the end of the three-day period, thirst was significantly worse in the IG group. Readmission rates at 30 days were similar between the groups (IG, 11 patients [29%]; CG, seven patients [19%]).

“Aggressive fluid and sodium restriction has no effect on weight loss or clinical stability at three days and is associated with a significant increase in perceived thirst,” the authors write.

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