Reducing your salt intake, even without resorting to blood pressure medication, would be the first treatment for hypertension.
- About 20% of people with high blood pressure do not take treatment.
- A salt substitute, composed of 75% sodium and 25% potassium, would reduce the risk of stroke and cardiovascular incidents.
Nearly 12 million French people are treated for arterial hypertension, ie for systolic pressure above 140mmHg and diastolic above 90mmHg. But this figure is far from reflecting reality: hypertension is a so-called “asymptomatic” disease and for this reason it is considered that approximately 20% of people who suffer from it do not take treatment! As for those that are treated, half fail to balance their voltage and remain with measurements that are too high.
A mixture of sodium and potassium
For people most at risk of suffering from high blood pressure, salt substitutes would help lower blood pressure. This is what emerges from a study published on September 16 in the New England Journal of Medicine. She even adds that before taking medication, limiting salt intake could be the first treatment.
For this research, Chinese scientists evaluated the effects of a salt substitute made up of 75% sodium and 25% potassium on patients who had already had a stroke or whose blood pressure was poorly balanced. “Reducing salt intake lowers blood pressure, a major contributor to illness and death from heart attack or stroke”, says Darwin Labarthe, professor of preventive medicine in the Division of Epidemiology and co-author of the study.
More strokes, cardiovascular incidents among salt consumers
The study was conducted on more than 20,000 people from northeast China. Comparing those who consumed salt and those who took the substitute, there were more people to have a stroke in the first group. Other cardiovascular incidents, such as heart attacks, were also more frequent. “Salt decreases and potassium increases, which is also beneficial for lowering blood pressure – so it is doubly effective”, concludes the author of this study.
Below, the program Questions aux Experts on the theme: “hypertension, a silent but dangerous disease”:
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