Shah Murad, Rizwan Waseem, Aamir Bashir, Hafiz Hamad Ashraf, Amar Lal Ghurbakhshani, Riaz Ahmad Sheikh.
Keep heart healthy by normalising body weight, blood pressure and weight reduction.
Pak J Med Health Sci Jan ;5(2):228-31.

Hyperlipidemia, if not controlled at its initial stage may lead to atherosclerosis and myocardial infarction, causing high rate of morbidity and mortality all over the world. Research study was conducted to examine the effects of Psyllium fibres on blood pressure, weight and lipid profile in hyperlipidemic patients.It was single blind placebo controlled research study. Study was conducted at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, Karachi, Pakistan from January to July 2010. Forty already diagnosed primary hyperlipidemic patients were selected from Cardiology OPD of Jinnah Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan. Exclusion criteria were patients suffering from hypothyroidism, renal dysfunction, any hepatic disease. Consent Performa was designed and got approval for the research from Research Ethical Committee of Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, Karachi. After explaining the limitations, consent was obtained from all study participants before they were enrolled in the study. They were divided in two groups, 20 patients were on Psyllium husk fibres, 10 gram daily in divided doses. And 20 patients were kept on placebo as control group. Lipid profile of all participants was estimated at day-0 and at day-90. All other vital functions of patients were also estimated and kept on record. They were advised to visit clinic every two weeks. Two patients discontinued taking drug given, due to metallic test of psyllium fibres. Psyllium fibers when used for 3 months, it was observed that weight, systolic and diastolic blood pressure of hyperlipidemic patients reduced 1.34%, 2.57% and 4.57% respectively. Psyllium decreased serum total cholesterol from 228.27±4.89 mg/dl to 199.22±2.30 mg/dl, triglycerides from 169.27±9.92 mg/dl to 164.5±8.56 mg/dl, LDL-Cholesterol from 159.72±5.70 to 129.55±2.81mg/dl, and increased serum HDL-Cholesterol from 34.61±1.85 to 36.77±1.96 mg/dl in three months of treatment. Data were expressed as the mean±SD and “t” test was applied to determine statistical significance of results. P- value lesser than 0.05 was the limit of significance. Results of all parameters of lipid profile, weight and blood pressure were significant when paired ‘t’ test was applied for statistical analysis. It was concluded from the research study that psyllium is effective agent to maintain lipid profile parameters at normal limits in hyperlipidemic patients. These fibers also reduce weight and blood pressure in hyperlipidemic patients.

PakMediNet -Pakistan's largest Database of Pakistani Medical Journals - http://www.pakmedinet.com