title: [Hypertension in patients on hemodialysis: the role of salt intake].
abstract: In the 1960s, about 10% of hemodialysis (HD) patients had hypertension; the current percentage of hypertensive patients has risen to 70-75%. The scarce implementation of low-salt diets and the increment of dialysate sodium concentration aimed at ameliorating treatment tolerability are the main causes of the currently poor hypertension control. Considerable sodium intake activates a vicious circle: an increase in serum osmolarity, greater thirst and greater water intake, high inter-dialytic weight gains, need for large ultrafiltration rates, more frequent episodes of intradialytic hypotension, failure to achieve dry weight, progressive extra-cellular volume (ECV) expansion, and finally, blood pressure (BP) increase. Therefore, many studies have pointed out the importance of a low-salt diet in HD; it has been proven that the normalization of BP and ECV overload with a low-salt diet is associated with left ventricular hypertrophy regression and diastolic dysfunction improvement. Preparing meals with fresh foods, using spices, avoiding salt when cooking, and drastically limiting salty foods reduce dietary sodium down to about 6 g/day. Sodium intake during inter-dialytic periods can easily be assessed by measuring the changes in serum sodium concentration and in body weight.
authors.affiliation: Cattedra di Nefrologia, Seconda Università degli Studi di Napoli, Struttura Complessa di Nefrologia e Dialisi, S. Maria del Popolo degli Incurabili, Via Maria Longo 50, 80138 Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tuccillo
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: De Nicola
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Minutolo
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Scigliano
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Trucillo
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Avino
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Venditti
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: De Luca
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tirino
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mascia
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Laurino
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Conte
mesh_terms: D004039:Diet, Sodium-Restricted; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000178:diet therapy / Q000209:etiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D006435:Renal Dialysis; D012982:Sodium, Dietary / Q000009:adverse effects*; D014511:Uremia / Q000150:complications* / Q000628:therapy*
chemical_list: D012982:Sodium, Dietary