Salt and hypertension

Half Full · 10-01-2009, 08:33 PM

Does sodium intake really cause hypertension? If so, how much?

I've heard both sides of the story - one being that it's only bad if you already have high blood pressure as it can further increase it, and two being that it any increased sodium intake could cause hypertension.

LisaS · 10-01-2009, 08:41 PM

Some people have hypertension that is salt sensitive. Many do not. It isn't an across the board thing but it is true for some people. I don't think it is causal in the absolute sense, but it is true that if those that are sensitive cut down it does have a favorable impact.

Half Full · 10-01-2009, 09:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LisaS

Some people have hypertension that is salt sensitive. Many do not. It isn't an across the board thing but it is true for some people. I don't think it is causal in the absolute sense, but it is true that if those that are sensitive cut down it does have a favorable impact.

Right that's number one on my stories heard

. I don't really quite understand that mechanism though. I don't see how it could only be bad if you are already hypertensive. It just doesn't add up to me.

LisaS · 10-01-2009, 10:58 PM

This was interesting (though not a hard science site)

Quote:

This study, conducted at the Indiana University School of Medicine, suggests that it is not the hypertension produced by salt that is the most important cause of health problems – instead, it’s whether the individual is “salt-sensitive.” For people who are salt-sensitive, the risk of dying from cardiovascular problems are increased with high dietary salt, whether or not they are hypertensive.
People who are salt-sensitive experience an exaggerated blood pressure elevation when they are given a salt load. (There is no standard way to test for salt-sensitivity, and such tests are currently done only in a research setting.) While salt-sensitivity is felt to be a risk factor for developing hypertension, many salt-sensitive people are, in fact, not hypertensive at all. The Indiana study suggests that, while hypertension is a major cause of cardiovascular disease, it’s not the hypertension that causes early death in salt-sensitive people – it’s the salt-sensitivity itself. That is, in these individuals, high dietary salt causes cardiovascular disease even if their blood pressures remain normal.

I haven't read the study even to know if it is applied properly here, but it was interesting to read the article.

Many interesting things are being written.
Here and here from 2004 and here