A weekly digest of new research on major health topics

A weekly digest of new research on major health topics

CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE

Risk of illness may fall when diet becomes less salty.

· THE QUESTION Eating less salt can lower blood pressure and stave off hypertension. Years later, will this mean a healthier heart?

· THIS STUDY analyzed data on 2,415 adults with borderline-high blood pressure who had been randomly assigned, 10 to 15 years earlier, to reduce their salt intake by 25 to 35 percent or to maintain usual salt intake while participating in studies on hypertension. Participants were 30 to 54 years old at the time those studies began. Since then, cardiovascular disease was diagnosed in 200 participants. Those who had lowered their salt intake were 25 percent less likely to have heart problems than were those who had not changed the amount of salt in their diets.

· WHO MAY BE AFFECTED BY THESE FINDINGS? Middle-aged adults, especially those with borderline-high blood pressure, sometimes described as pre-hypertensive (a reading of 120 to 139 mmHg over 80 to 89 mmHg; higher readings are considered hypertensive). Adults are advised to consume no more than one teaspoon of salt a day.

· CAVEATS During the follow-up period, adherence to the dietary salt guidelines from the original studies was determined by questionnaires, not direct measurements.

· FIND THIS STUDY April 20 online issue of BMJ; article available at http://www.bmj.com.

· LEARN MORE ABOUT the effect of salt on the heart at http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/hbp (click "Prevention") and http://www.americanheart.org (search for "salt").