According to the American Academy of Family Physicians, approximately 40 percent of congestive heart failure is due to diastolic dysfunction, which implies the heart dysfunction happens while the heart muscle is relaxed and the heart is filling with blood. A new study has found that L-Carnitine a amino acid may buttress the health of patients with diastolic heart failure. Diastolic heart failure risk factors include high salt diet, high blood pressure, increased blood volume, heart arrhythmias and decreased blood to the heart muscle. The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) announced that some 5.8 million people in the United States have heart failure, and one in five of those with heart failure die within the first year of diagnosis.
This study, reveals the positive effect of supplementing with L-carnitine for people with a history of diastolic-dysfunction-related heart failure. Study participants received either a placebo for 3 months or 1,500 mg of L-carnitine per day. Evaluations took place using echocardiograms at the onset of the study and again after 3 months of treatment.
Study results imply that there was progress in several calculations of diastolic heart function in the group receiving L-carnitine supplementation. Theses improvements include relaxation time and left atrial size, which is a chamber that often enlarges due to heart failure. Study participants who used L-carnitine also showed marked improvement in breathing (dyspnea), a common symptom of heart failure.
Study conductors concluded: “In patients with a history of diastolic heart failure, important indices of diastolic function and symptoms appear to improve with L-carnitine treatment.”
Reference: L-Carnitine Treatment in Patients with Mild Diastolic Heart Failure Is Affiliated with Improvement in Diastolic Function and Symptoms. Cardiology. 2010 Jul 16;116(3):178-182.
