NEURALLY MEDIATED SYNCOPE AND SALT INTAKE LEVELS

Many patients who suffer from neurally-mediated syncope eat a low salt diet. This diet may, in fact, increase their risk of developing syncope. At this point in time, there are no established methods to quantify salt intake. This is a pilot project, using a simplified dietary questionnaire and two 24-hour urine collections, to categorize patients according to their salt intake. Thirty normal subjects will be studied, and each will fill out the pilot questionnaire, undergo four detailed dietary interviews, and provide two twenty-hour collections of their urinary sodium excretion.