Home PDF Current Issue Archives Ahead of Print « Prev Article | Next Article » TOC The Importance of Population-Wide Sodium Reduction as a Means to Prevent Cardiovascular Disease and Stroke A Call to Action From the American Heart Association Lawrence J. Appel, MD, MPH, FAHA; Edward D. Frohlich, MD, FAHA; John E. Hall, PhD, FAHA; Thomas A. Pearson, MD, PhD, FAHA; Ralph L. Sacco, MD, FAHA; Douglas R. Seals, PhD; Frank M. Sacks, MD, FAHA; Sidney C. Smith Jr, MD, FAHA; Dorothea K. Vafiadis, MS; Linda V. Van Horn, PhD, RD, FAHA Key Words: AHA Scientific Statements sodium salt blood pressure hypertension cardiovascular disease stroke kidney disease Introduction Blood pressure (BP)-related diseases, specifically, stroke, coronary heart disease, heart failure, and kidney disease, are leading causes of morbidity and mortality in the United States and throughout the world. In the United States, coronary heart disease and stroke are the leading causes of mortality, whereas heart failure is the leading cause of hospitalizations.1 Concurrently, the prevalence of chronic kidney disease remains high and is escalating.2,3 The direct and indirect costs of these conditions are staggering, over $400 billion just for cardiovascular disease (CVD) in 2009.1,4 The human consequences are likewise enormous. The relation between BP and adverse health outcomes is direct and progressive with no evidence of a threshold, that is, the risk of CVD, stroke, and end-stage kidney disease increases progressively throughout the range of usual BP starting at a level of ≈115/75 mm Hg.5,–,7 Overall, elevated BP is the second leading modifiable cause of death, accounting for an estimated 395 000 preventable deaths in the United States in 2005.8 Worldwide, elevated BP accounts for 54% of stroke and 47% of coronary heart disease events; importantly, about half of these events occur in persons without hypertension.9 The 2020 goal of the American Heart Association (AHA) is to improve the cardiovascular heath of all Americans by 20% while continuing to reduce deaths from CVD and stroke by 20%.4 Two of the key metrics for ideal cardiovascular health are a BP of 4600 mg/d, the rate of decline in creatinine clearance and increase in proteinuria were greater compared with patients with a sodium intake
Posted on: Sat, 03 Aug 2013 13:51:33 +0000
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