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A comprehensive review on salt and health and current experience of worldwide salt reduction programmes

Journal of Human Hypertension volume 23, pages 771–772 (2009)Cite this article

We read with great interest the excellent review article by He and MacGregor1 on salt and health relationship and on worldwide salt-reducing programmes. For several reasons this is a very critical health issue in Portugal, for which both the Portuguese Society of Hypertension and Portuguese health authorities have been recently strongly pawned.

Among Western European countries, Portugal has one of the highest mortality rates for stroke (twice that of coronary disease) and of incidence of gastric cancer.2 The first population study devoted to evaluate salt consumption in Portugal was recently undertaken and published.3 In that study3 (426 persons aged 22–72 years), the mean daily salt consumption measuring 24 h urinary sodium (validated by creatinuria) was found to be 11.9±4.2 g day−1 (median=11.4 g salt day−1), which correlated with casual blood pressure and aortic stiffness. If we introduce such new data of Portuguese salt consumption in the regression line plotting death from stroke and urinary sodium excretion, as shown in figure 8 of the article by He and MacGregor,1 the position of Portugal will drop exactly within the regression line and not much above that line as it appears in figure 8. It also agrees more closely to the line plotting sodium excretion and death from stomach cancer as shown in figure 10.1 All these data reinforce the message stressed by He and MacGregor1 and suggest that such a high salt consumption might contribute both to the abnormally high mortality by stroke and gastric cancer in Portugal.

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References

  1. He FJ, MacGregor GA . A comprehensive review on salt and health and current experience of worldwide salt reduction programmes. J Hum Hypertens 2009; 23 (6): 363–384.

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  2. Barros P, de Almeida Simões J . Portugal: Health system review. Health Systems in Transition 2007; 9 (5): 1–140.

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  3. Polonia J, Maldonado J, Ramos R, Bertoquini S, Duro M, Almeida C et al. Estimation of salt intake by urinary sodium excretion in a Portuguese adult population and its relationship to arterial stiffness. Rev Port Cardiol 2006; 25 (9): 801–817.

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  4. Martins L, Nazare J, Pinto F, Polonia J . Portuguese action against salt and hypertension (PAASH). From research to a national policy and regulatory law on food salt content. J Hypertens 2009; 27 (suppl 4): S326.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Health Sciences, Fernando Pessoa University, Porto, Portugal

    J Polonia & L Martins

  2. Portuguese Society of Hypertension, Porto, Portugal

    J Polonia & L Martins

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  1. J Polonia
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  2. L Martins
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Correspondence to J Polonia.

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Polonia, J., Martins, L. A comprehensive review on salt and health and current experience of worldwide salt reduction programmes. J Hum Hypertens 23, 771–772 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/jhh.2009.64

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