Researchers discovered that salt replacements lowered the risk of stroke and severe cardiovascular problems in certain participants in a recent study.
Potassium chloride salts might be a good option for those with high blood pressure who want to lessen their salt intake. Researchers said that low-sodium, high-potassium alternatives have been proven to lower blood pressure. The precise impact of such options on safety and cardiovascular results, on the other hand, remains "uncertain."
Researchers published the findings of their study, titled "Effect of Salt Substitution on Cardiovascular Events and Death," in the New England Journal of Medicine. The study is in line with their Salt Substitute and Stroke Study (SSaSS) study.
Salt Linked to Cardiovascular Diseases
The researchers compared the effects of regular salt and salt substitute on cardiovascular events, death, stroke, and hyperkalemia - a situation where a person has much potassium in their blood.
Various salty and sweet snacks are displayed for sale outside a shop in downtown Kuala Lumpur on March 23, 2010.
The primary outcome was stroke, with cardiovascular events and mortality as secondary outcomes. The ESC noted in a statement that hyperkalemia was assessed as a safety outcome because of concerns about the illness in patients with chronic renal disease.
Participants in the study had a history of stroke or were 60 years or older and had high blood pressure. They were selected from 600 communities in rural China. More than 20,000 people participated in the research and they were cluster-randomized in a 1:1 ratio per village. Some of them utilized a salt replacement that included 75% sodium chloride and 25% potassium chloride. In comparison, others continued to use conventional salt that was 100% sodium chloride.
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Over 3,000 individuals had a stroke during the average follow-up of 4.7 years. Over 4,000 died, and 5,000 suffered a severe cardiovascular event. The study added that people who took the salt replacement, on the other hand, had a decreased risk of serious cardiovascular events and stroke. In addition, the sub had no effect on hyperkalemia or "any other concerns."
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Salt Replacement Could Lower Stroke Risks
The researchers concluded per The Evening Standard that the salt replacement lowered down the rates of stroke, major cardiovascular events, and mortality among those who had a history of stroke or those 60 years old or older and had high blood pressure.
In the same ESC news release, Professor Bruce Neal, the study's lead author and George Institute for Global Health in Sydney's director, said that salt substitutes are a low-cost solution that may be implemented immediately.
He added that the recent modeling research for China estimated that if salt substitutes were proven to be effective, 365,000 strokes and 461,000 premature deaths might be prevented per year.
Professor Neal told The Times that replacing all of the salt on supermarket shelves with salt replacements would avert thousands of strokes and heart attacks each year.
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