title: Salt and blood pressure in community-based intervention trials.
abstract: This article reviews community-based salt intervention trials. In the Belgian Salt Intervention Trial, a controlled 5-y intervention in two Belgian towns resulted in a reduction in urinary sodium of 17 mmol/24 h (P < 0.001) in adult (aged > or = 20 y) women in the intervention town, which differed from the concurrent trend (an increase of 8 mmol/24 h) in the control town (P = 0.01). However, both systolic (-7.5 compared with -7.9 mm Hg) and diastolic (-2.3 compared with -3.0 mm Hg) pressures declined to the same extent in women of the two towns. In adult men in the intervention town, decreases were observed in urinary sodium (-12 mmol/24 h) and in systolic (-5.6 mm Hg) and diastolic (-2.4 mm Hg) blood pressures, but these trends were the same in the control town (-12 mmol/24 h, -4.9 mm Hg, and 0.2 mm Hg, respectively). The Belgian study and the four other community-based salt intervention trials reviewed show that, in general, salt intake in the long-run cannot be restricted below 5 g/24 h. More moderate salt restriction may constitute a more realistic goal, but its influence on blood pressure in the community at large is probably trivial.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Cardiovascular Research, University of Leuven, Belgium. jan.staessen@med.kuleuven.ac.be
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Staessen
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lijnen
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Thijs
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fagard
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology*; D018849:Controlled Clinical Trials as Topic; D004039:Diet, Sodium-Restricted; D005060:Europe; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009520:New Zealand; D012964:Sodium / Q000652:urine; D017673:Sodium Chloride, Dietary / Q000008:administration & dosage*
chemical_list: D017673:Sodium Chloride, Dietary; D012964:Sodium