Nearly everyone can lower their blood pressure, even people currently on blood pressure-reducing drugs, by lowering their sodium intake, reports a new study published in JAMA from Northwestern Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Nearly everyone can lower their blood pressure, even people currently on blood pressure-reducing drugs, by lowering their sodium intake, reports a new study published in JAMA from Northwestern Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
“In the study, middle-aged to elderly participants reduced their salt intake by about one teaspoon a day compared with their usual diet. The result was a decline in systolic blood pressure by about six millimeters of mercury (mm Hg), which is comparable to the effect produced by a commonly utilized first-line medication for high blood pressure,” said Deepak Gupta, MD, associate professor of medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and co-principal investigator.
“We found that 70-75 percent of all people, regardless of whether they are already on blood pressure medications or not, are likely to see a reduction in their blood pressure if they lower the sodium in their diet,” said co-principal investigator Norrina Allen, PhD, the Quentin D. Young Professor of Health Policy in the Department of Preventive Medicine and co-principal investigator of the study.
Read more at Northwestern University
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