SAN FRANCISCO, Mar 12, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- A moderate decrease in daily
salt intake could benefit the U.S. population and reduce the rates of heart
disease and deaths, researchers said.
For every gram of salt that Americans reduce in their diets daily, a quarter of
a million fewer new heart disease cases -- and at least 200,000 fewer deaths --
would occur over a decade, study lead author Dr. Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo of the
University of California, San Francisco.
"A very modest decrease in the amount of salt -- hardly detectable in the taste
of food -- can have dramatic health benefits for the United States,"
Bibbins-Domingo said in a statement. "It was a surprise to see the magnitude of
the impact on the population, given the very small reductions in salt that we
were modeling."
A 3-gram-a-day reduction in salt intake -- about 1,200 mg of sodium -- would
result in 6 percent fewer cases of new heart disease, 8 percent fewer heart
attacks and 3 percent fewer deaths, the report said.
Even larger health benefits are projected for African-Americans, who are more
likely to have high blood pressure and whose blood pressure may be more
sensitive to salt, Bibbins-Domingo said. Among African-Americans, new heart
disease cases would be reduced by 10 percent, heart attacks by 13 percent and
deaths by 6 percent, the study said.
The findings were presented at the American Heart Association's 49th annual
conference on Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention in Palm Harbor,
Fla.
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Copyright 2009 by United Press International