Staying hydrated may be linked to a lower chance of getting heart failure, according to a study published in the European Heart Journal by the National Institutes of Health.
Heart failure is a chronic disorder in which the heart fails to pump enough blood to meet the body’s demands. This is very frequent in those over the age of 65. More than 11,000 adults between the ages of 45 and 66 were enlisted in the study, and their data was evaluated and monitored for 25 years.
Serum sodium levels should be between 135 and 146 millimoles per litre (mmol/L). The researchers discovered that persons with serum sodium levels above 143 mmol/L had a 39 percent higher risk of getting heart failure over the next 25 years than those with lower serum sodium levels. They also discovered that each 1 mmol/L rise in a person’s serum sodium level within the normal range raised the risk of heart failure by 5%.
Age, sex, BMI, cholesterol levels, smoking status, high blood pressure, and whether individuals habitually added salt to their food are all characteristics considered during the study. It was reported that once all of the above factors were taken into account, the findings remained the same. A randomized controlled trial in which patients are randomly assigned to drink more water is needed to confirm the findings because the study only identified a connection between higher serum sodium levels and heart failure.
The researchers identified three factors that influence hydration needs:
- exercise level,
- underlying medical problems,
- drugs.
Women should drink between 6 to 8.5 cups (1.5 to 2 litres) of fluids per day, while males should drink from 8.5 to 12.5 cups (2 to 3 litres).
Because participants with diabetes, obesity, and heart failure were excluded from the study, the conclusions do not apply to everyone. The study had one flaw: it didn’t explicitly test how much a person drank, instead relying on serum sodium as a surrogate for hydration levels.
Parvathy Sukumaran 
