Dietary salt reduction; further lowering of target lowers blood pressure but may increase risk

Commentary on: He FJ, Li J, Macgregor GA. Effect of longer-term modest salt reduction on blood pressure. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2013;(4):CD004937. Context Numerous studies have shown that a high dietary salt intake increases blood pressure (BP) and the risk of cardiovascular events.1 2 Conversely, a moderate and even low-level salt intake lowers BP in a dose-dependent way. Methods He and colleagues have performed a thorough and comprehensive meta-analysis of 34 randomised controlled trials (RCTs) assessing the impact of modest reduction in salt intake with a trial duration of at least 4 weeks. Findings The present study corroborates the findings showing that a ‘modest’ reduction in salt intake from 9.4 to 4.4 g/day caused a significant fall in BP in hypertensive as well as normotensive individuals (systolic change –4.18 mm Hg (95% CI –5.18 to –3.18; p<0.0001)). This fall in BP was associated...
Source: Evidence-Based Medicine - Category: Internal Medicine Authors: Tags: Clinical trials (epidemiology), Drugs: cardiovascular system, Drugs: CNS (not psychiatric), Heart failure, Stroke, Hypertension, Diet, Ischaemic heart disease Therapeutics Source Type: research