High salt intake boosts stroke, CVD risk - theheart.org - 0 views
-
Matti Narkia on 28 Nov 09"November 25, 2009 | Susan Jeffrey Naples, Italy - A new meta-analysis confirms that high salt intake is associated with increased risks of stroke and total cardiovascular disease (CVD) [1]. The pooled relative risk showed that an average difference of about 5 g of salt per day was associated with a 23% increased risk of stroke, the researchers report, and a 17% increase in CVD risk. The average habitual salt intake in most Western countries is 10 g per day, double the level currently recommended by the World Health Organization. "Given that the case-fatality rate for stroke is estimated at one in three, and that for total cardiovascular disease at one in five, a 23% reduction in the rate of stroke and a 17% overall reduction in the rate of cardiovascular disease attributable to a reduction in population salt intake could avert some one and a quarter million deaths from stroke, and almost three million deaths from cardiovascular disease each year," the researchers, with lead author Dr Pasquale Strazzullo (University of Naples Medical School, Italy), conclude. Moreover, because of some imprecision in salt-intake measurements in these cohort studies, the actual effects are likely to be underestimated, they add. The study was published online November 24, 2009 in the British Medical Journal."