Health
Low-salt diet benefits normotensives, too
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Aug. 9, 2004
People with normal blood pressure who reduce their daily intake of salt by just over 4 g a day for a month will, on average, lower their systolic by two points and their diastolic by a point, and this could lead to fewer heart attacks and strokes, according to an analysis of the literature published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews last month.
Reducing salt intake has long been recommended as a way to prevent hypertension. The World Health Organization urged last year that the populations of developed countries reduce their salt intake from the current 9-12 g per day to 5 g or 6 g per day. Many studies have also shown that reducing salt intake can lower the numbers for hypertensives. Benefits to those with normal blood pressure have been a little less clear until this review.
Authors of the paper suggested, however, that reducing salt intake was less a matter for the individual but rather one for society.
"The amount of salt we currently consume is a chronic long-term toxin that is slowly raising our blood pressure," said Dr. Graham MacGregor, professor of cardiovascular medicine at St. George's Hospital Medical School in London, England. "Clearly the problem ... is that 80% of our salt intake now comes from salt hidden in foods. A reduction in the salt concentration of food is currently being carried out in the United Kingdom with the support of the Dept. of Health and Food Standards Agency. Other countries, including the United States, need to follow suit."
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2004/08/09/hlbf0809.htm.
