The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet has on heart failure status in older adults. This study is important because it may provide a low-cost strategy to help reduce hospitalizations and deaths for heart failure patients. Participants will be adults age 65 and older with heart failure. They will have 4 study visits, each lasting about 2 hours, and will be in the study for 12 weeks. They will also be asked about their dietary consumption 6 times, each time lasting about 45 minutes. All in-person study visits will take place in the Emory GCRC. Participants will have physical exams, body measurements, blood tests, urinalysis, chart review, and answer surveys. They will be randomized to eat only the DASH diet provided to them for 4 weeks either at the beginning or end of their participation in the study. Participants will be recruited from heart failure patients at Emory University Hospital, Emory University Hospital Midtown, and Emory Outpatient Advanced Heart Failure Therapy Center. The total enrollment planned under Emory's oversight, accounting for screen failures and withdrawals, will be n=38 participants. The study team will obtain informed consent prior to the first study visit either in person, or, alternatively, over the phone, if requested by participants. Specimens and data obtained in this study will not be banked for future use.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
38
The DASH diet is a heart-healthy eating pattern that is focused on adequate consumption of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy, fish, poultry, beans, nuts, and vegetables oils while emphasizing limited intake of foods containing saturated fat, such as fatty red meats, full-fat dairy products, and tropical oils, such as coconut, palm kernel, and palm oils, as well as sugar-sweetened beverages and sweets. The chosen 4 week intervention duration phase is consistent with previous research showing positive effects of consuming a sodium-reduced dietary intervention on volume status and is longer than in other studies showing positive effects of DASH diet consumption on cardiac outcomes among HF patients. Potential carryover effects are minimized by a washout period of 4 weeks. The meal plan has been previously developed based on NHLBI guidelines for the DASH diet.
Emory Clinical Cardiovascular Research Center (ECCRI)
Atlanta, Georgia, United States
B-natriuretic peptide (BNP)
Clinically relevant natriuretic peptide
Time frame: Study visit 1-4
N-terminal-proBNP (NT-proBNP)
Clinically relevant natriuretic peptide
Time frame: Study visit 1-4
Systolic and Diastolic Pulmonary Artery Pressures
Early indicator of heart failure complications
Time frame: Patient-driven measurement data points during intervention/control phase (8 weeks)
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