Health risks and diseases related to salt

The issue of salt consumption is one that is closely related to the development of hypertension. In most people, the kidneys have trouble keeping up with the excess sodium (salt) in the bloodstream. As sodium accumulates, the body holds on to water to dilute the sodium. This increases both the amount of fluid surrounding cells and the volume of blood in the bloodstream. Increased blood volume means more work for the heart and more pressure on blood vessels. Over time, the extra work and pressure can stiffen blood vessels, leading to high blood pressure, heart attack, and stroke. It can also lead to heart failure. There is also some evidence that too much salt can damage the heart, aorta, and kidneys, without increasing blood pressure, and that it may be bad for bones, too.

High blood pressure is a leading cause of cardiovascular disease. It accounts for two-thirds of all strokes and half of heart disease. In St Vincent and the Grenadines, high blood pressure is a leading cause of death and many Vincentians suffer from hypertension.

Besides contributing to high blood pressure, consuming high amounts of salt can also lead to stroke, heart disease, and heart failure.

Research also shows that reducing salt lowers cardiovascular disease and death rates over the long term.

The consumption of excess salt is also linked to other diseases. Research shows that higher intake of salt, sodium, or salty foods is linked to an increase in stomach cancer. The World Cancer Research Fund and American Institute for Cancer Research concluded that salt, as well as salted and salty foods, are a “probable cause of stomach cancer.”

The amount of calcium that your body loses via urination increases with the amount of salt you eat. If calcium is in short supply in the blood, it can be leached out of the bones. So, a diet high in sodium could have an additional unwanted effect – the bone-thinning disease known as osteoporosis. A study in post-menopausal women showed that the loss of hip bone density over two years was related to the 24-hour urinary sodium excretion at the start of the study, and that the connection with bone loss was as strong as that for calcium intake. Other studies have shown that reducing salt intake causes a positive calcium balance, suggesting that reducing salt intake could slow the loss of calcium from bone that occurs with aging.

It is important that you watch what you eat. Read the labels and look for the amount of sodium that is contained in these products.

Dr Rosmond Adams, MD is a medical doctor and a public health specialist with training in bioethics and ethical issues in medicine, the life sciences and research. He is the head of Health Information, Communicable Disease and Emergency Response at the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA).

He is also a member of the World Health Organization Global Coordination Mechanism on the Prevention and Control of NCDs.

(The views expressed here are not written on behalf of CARPHA, nor the WHO)

Dr Rosmond Adams is a medical doctor and a public health specialist. He may be emailed at: adamsrosmond@gmail.com