Chapter 13 - The Role of High Salt Intake in the Development and Progression of Diverse Diseases

Abstract

The course and outcome of multiple diseases is worsened by high salt intake, often but not always via elevation of arterial blood pressure. Excessive salt consumption increases the incidence of cardiovascular disorders, including myocardial infarction, heart failure or stroke, also of chronic kidney disease and diabetes. More than 30% of the Western populations is affected by arterial hypertension, and “prehypertension” is diagnosed in a similar percentage of subjects; these people will become hypertensive within a couple of years. Unfortunately, the pathomechanisms of hypertension remain largely unclear; emphasized is the role of arterial stiffening and kidney glomerular injury. Recent literature of the subject indicates an urgent need for reduction of worldwide salt consumption and it agrees that this would substantially reduce mortality in cardiovascular disease and also help alleviate progression of many diseases like heart failure, chronic kidney disease, and diabetes.