title: The Science of Salt: A Systematic Review of Quality Clinical Salt Outcome Studies June 2014 to May 2015.
abstract: Studies identified from an updated systematic review (from June 2014 to May 2015) on the impact of dietary salt intake on clinical and population health are reviewed. Randomized controlled trials, cohort studies, and meta-analyses of these study types on the effect of sodium intake on blood pressure, or any substantive adverse health outcomes were identified from MEDLINE searches and quality indicators were used to select studies that were relevant to clinical and public health. From 6920 studies identified in the literature search, 144 studies were selected for review, of which only three (n=233,680) met inclusion criteria. Between them, the three studies demonstrated a harmful association between excess dietary salt and all-cause mortality, noncardiovascular and cardiovascular disease mortality, and headache. None of the included studies found harm from lowering dietary salt. The findings of this systematic review are consistent with the large body of research supportive of efforts to reduce population salt intake and congruent with our last annual review from June 2013 to May 2014.
authors.affiliation: George Institute for Global Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Claire
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.affiliation: Research & Development, the George Institute for Global Health, Hyderabad, India.
authors.forename: Thout Sudhir
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Raj
authors.affiliation: George Institute for Global Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Kathy
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Trieu
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Oshawa, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: JoAnne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Arcand
authors.affiliation: Arbor Research Collaborative for Health, Ann Arbor, MI.
authors.forename: Michelle M Y
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.affiliation: Departments of Preventive & Social Medicine/Human Nutrition, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Rachael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: McLean
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine and Community Health Science, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Leung
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Physiology and Pharmacology and Community Health Sciences and Libin Cardiovascular Institute of Alberta, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
authors.forename: Norm R C
authors.initials: NR
authors.lastname: Campbell
authors.affiliation: George Institute for Global Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia. jwebster@georgeinstitute.org.au.
authors.forename: Jacqui
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Webster
mesh_terms: D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects*; D001795:Blood Pressure Determination; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000401:mortality*; D006261:Headache / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D015201:Meta-Analysis as Topic; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D018570:Risk Assessment; D017673:Sodium Chloride, Dietary / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D017673:Sodium Chloride, Dietary