0241 : Does Ramadan fasting has any effects on hemoglobin, glucose and renal function in patients with chronic heart failure?

Abstract

The effects of Islamic fasting on physiologic functions in normal conditions have been considered in different studies and different topics. This study was to determine the quantitative changes of hemoglobin, glucose and renal function during Ramadan fasting in patients with chronic heart failure. Fifty-three outpatients with chronic heart failure were followed in 2 stages: one week before the start of Ramadan and then on the last day of Ramadan by proper blood sampling in suitable time of day. There were 31 (58.5%) males and 22 (41.5%) females with a mean age of 60±11.06 years. Nineteen patients (35.8%) had mild left ventricular systolic dysfunction, 29 patients (54.7%) had moderate systolic dysfunction and 5 patients (9.4%) had severe systolic dysfunction. There were no significant changes in the NYHA Class nor there were any significant changes in the Canadian Cardiac Society (CCS) class in patients with coronary artery disease. We found non significant decrease in hemoglobin and blood glucose level ( P =0.76) and ( P =0.16) respectively, and non significant increase in creatinine ( P =0.07) before and at the end of Ramadan in either males or females. The conclusions from this study can not be extrapolated to patients with worse functional classes or those who are unstable. It is clear that more work should be carried out to evaluate the impact of fasting on cardiac patients with higher NYHA class, and discover the significance of Ramadan fasting in patients with heart disease.