title: [Arterial hypertension in the adolescent: its possible relation to the salt taste threshold].
abstract: The purpose of the study was to define the relationship between the salt intake and the levels of arterial blood pressure in adolescent people. Seventy-eight youngs between 12 and 18 years old with diastolic/systolic blood pressure above 95 percentile formed the hypertensive group; a similar population with the same characteristic (age, sex, race, weight and height) with normal blood pressure were selected as a control group. The salt taste threshold was carried out through tasting a saline solution in different concentrations, till it could be distinguished as salted. Moreover, 45 hypertensive adolescent were follow-up for 12 weeks under a hiposodic diet and consequently a new salt taste threshold was done. The results showed that the control group had a salt perception under 80 mg %, instead the hypertensive group showed a higher threshold (above 160 mg %). Those hypertensive adolescent which were followed for 12 weeks changed its pattern in this way: in 24, a lesser perception was observed with a reduction in their blood pressure in 11 of them. These findings suggest that hypertensive adolescent had an elevated threshold for salt, usually above 160 mg % and the test should be helpful for the identification of a subgroup "salt-sensible".
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Medicina Interna, Hospital General del Oeste, Caracas, Venezuela.
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: del Negro
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Oliver
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Arocha
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Arias
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D004039:Diet, Sodium-Restricted; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000178:diet therapy / Q000209:etiology*; D008297:Male; D012982:Sodium, Dietary / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects*; D013652:Taste Threshold / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D012982:Sodium, Dietary
vernacular_title: Hipertensión arterial del adolescente: relación posible con el umbral de sal al gusto.