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Thursday, August 14, 2014

Studies examine implications of regulating dietary sodium.

On its front page, the Wall Street Journal (8/14, A1, Winslow, Subscription Publication) reports that according toresearch published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the consumption of less than 3,000 milligrams of sodium daily may increase the risk for death, stroke or heart attack. Researchers arrived at this conclusion after following for three years some 100,000 people in 17 countries. The Food and Drug Administration has announced its intention to review the research. Currently, the FDA is putting together voluntary guidelines which will ask the food industry to reduce the amount of sodium in processed foods.

        The Los Angeles Times (8/14, Healy) “Science Now” blog reports that another study published in the NEJM “concludes that one in 10 cardiovascular deaths can be attributed to excessive sodium consumption, and one in five of those among people younger than 70.” Meanwhile, “an invited editorial touted the study as a ‘herculean effort’ to glean the effects of excess salt consumption in a broad population.” Nevertheless, “citing the findings of two studies published alongside the global assessment, University of Alabama vascular expert Dr. Suzanne Oparil declared it too early for public health officials to take up the cudgels against dietary sodium.”

        The AP (8/14, Marchione) points out that “guidelines from various groups for heart disease prevention recommend 1.5 to 2.4 grams of sodium a day.” For example, “the American Heart Association advises no more than 1.5 grams.” In any case, “limiting salt is still important for people with” hypertension.

        Bloomberg News (8/14, Cortez) reports that experts are in agreement that “too much sodium is dangerous and it comes mainly from packaged foods and restaurant meals” and that just “a small proportion stems from salt added to a homemade meal or shaken on food at the kitchen table.” Experts also stress the importance of reading “food labels to get a good sense of how much salt” is consumed on a daily basis.

        MedPage Today (8/13, Yurkiewicz) reports that a third paper, “a meta-analysis of 107 randomized interventions in 103 trials,” revealed “a linear dose-response relationship between reduced sodium intake and blood pressure.” Its authors concluded, “Globally, 1.65 million annual deaths from cardiovascular causes (95% uncertainty interval [confidence interval], 1.10 million-2.22 million) were attributed to sodium intake above the reference level.” In discussing all the studies, some experts, including editorialist Dr. Oparil, are of the opinion that “encouraging diets high in potassium may be an alternative approach to reducing blood pressure and cardiovascular events.”

        Also covering the studies are Reuters (8/13, Emery), the NBC News (8/13, Silverman, Tolin) website, the NPR(8/13, Aubrey) “Goats and Soda” blog, Forbes (8/13, Husten), HealthDay (8/13, Thompson) and Medscape(8/13, Busko).

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