Salt and blood pressure
blood pressure| heart | cancer | kidneys | osteoporosis | asthma | obesity | fluid retention
What is high blood pressure and why is it important?
A blood pressure of greater that 140/90 mmHg is said to be high and, at this level, studies have shown that lowering blood pressure has a beneficial effect on reducing the likelihood of developing a stroke or heart attack.
Raised blood pressure is the most important factor involved in the development of cardiovascular disease, and accounts for 60% of all strokes and 50% of all heart disease.
A large number of studies have been conducted, all of which support the concept that salt
intake is the major factor increasing population blood pressure. The diversity and strength of
the evidence is much greater than for other lifestyle factors, e.g. weight reduction, lack of fruit and vegetable consumption and lack of exercise. The evidence that links salt to blood
pressure is as strong as that linking cigarette smoking to cancer and heart
disease. For more information about salt and blood pressure visit the evidence
section.
It is estimated that reducing salt intake to 6g a day (from 10g a day in the UK) through the effect that this would have on blood pressure, could lead to a 16% reduction in deaths from strokes and a 12% reduction in deaths from coronary heart disease. This would prevent approximately 19,000 stroke and heart attack deaths in the UK each year and 2.6 million each year worldwide.