Scientists from the University of Glasgow have found that people who take diuretics often skip heart failure, which leads to an increased risk of death. This relationship was particularly evident in women. The study was presented at the Heart Failure 2023 scientific conference.
Scientists analyzed data from about 200 thousand patients from Scotland. People who initially took loop diuretics (the strongest diuretics) were almost 4 times more likely to be diagnosed with heart failure within the next five years (11%) than those who did not take loop diuretics at baseline (3%).
At the end of the study, approximately 35 thousand (18%) people died. Of these, 23% were diagnosed with heart failure and 32% were using loop diuretics without a diagnosis of heart failure.
“Some patients taking loop diuretics were eventually told they had heart failure, but many died undiagnosed and so there were no treatment options to improve their outcomes,” the scientists said.
The authors added that any patient taking loop diuretics should be screened for serious heart disease.