Reduce salt intake, cut heart attack risk, medical costs
POSTED March 5, 2010 - 10:38 | POSTED BY Abby Kapoor
Last edited by Kangna Agarwal on March 5, 2010 - 13:49
Excessive intake of salt has been linked to increased blood pressure which is responsible for 65 percent of strokes and 49 percent of heart attacks globally.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends restricting daily salt intake to 5 grams for one person per day at the population level.
Computer model used to measure the impact of two different scenarios
The study was conducted by researchers from Stanford University School of Medicine, as well as the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System in California, U.S.
For the study, the scientists used a computer model to estimate what would happen if consumers and food-makers in America copied UK’s voluntary salt-reduction campaign.
As per the calculations, Americans between the age group of 40-85 years would cut their salt intake by 9.5 percent. This would prevent strokes in 5,13,885 people and heart attacks in 4,80,358 individuals.
Overall, the total savings to the health-care system would top $32 billion, according to the study, published in the Mar. 2 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.
The lead author of the study, Crystal Smith-Spangler, MD, Center for Health Policy, Stanford University, California, USA, said, “We found these small decreases in blood pressure would be effective in reducing deaths due to cardiovascular disease.”
“The numbers of affected people are huge, so even that small decrease is significant if you have large numbers of people involved,” Spangler added.
On the other hand, taxing salt would slash down its intake by six percent, which will result in 3,27,892 fewer strokes and 3,06,173 fewer heart attacks, the team calculated.
Cutting down on salt intake
In short, slashing down the salt intake by 9.5 percent can result in a modest decline in the blood pressure level of the Americans and also minimize the risk factor of suffering a heart attack.
The researchers in the study relied on data from a variety of sources, including the 2006 Medical Panel Expenditure Survey and Framingham Heart Study, to develop a hypothetical model of health benefits and costs of two different methods to reduce salt intake on a large scale of population.
The study has made certain that people should think about cutting down salt intake voluntarily, if they want to stay healthy.
