Ammar Asghar, Aneeqa Ilyas, Tuba Jamil, Umair Asghar.
Cardiomyopathy; Effect of Limiting Salt & Water Intake on Peripheral Edema in patients.
Professional Med J Jan ;25(4):497-501.

Background: Peripheral edema is associated with cardiomyopathy. It is commonly observed in patients of heart diseases. It is known that restriction of sodium products can reduce edema. So it was planned to conduct the study and find the effectiveness of salt and water restriction in cardiomyopathy patients having peripheral edema. Objectives: To compare the peripheral edema by restricting salt and water consumption in patients with cardiomyopathy. Study Design: Randomized control trial. Setting: Department of Cardiology, Punjab Institute of Cardiology, Lahore. Duration: Six months. Methodology: 50 cases of cardiomyopathy with peripheral edema were randomly divided in 2 groups. In group A, patients were instructed to reduce salt and water intake per day and in group B, no water and salt restriction was instructed. All patients were followed-up in OPD for 15 days. Then patients were assessed for peripheral edema. Chi square test was applied to compare the frequency of peripheral edema in both groups. P-value<0.05 was considered as significant. Results: The mean age of the patients was 46.00±12.98 years. There were 48% males and 52% females. Mean duration of cardiomyopathy was 5.56±2.98 years. The mean reduction in salt intake was 0.57±0.22 grams in experimental group and 0.42±0.21 grams in control group (P<0.05). The mean reduction in water intake was 0.72L in experimental group and 0.53L in control group (P<0.05). Peripheral edema was found in 8% in experimental group and 44% in control group (P<0.05). Conclusion: Our study results concluded that salt and water restriction can reduce peripheral edema in patients with cardiomyopathy and thus improve condition of patient.

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