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...medical mystery. In the summer of 2008, a man and woman, both in their 20s and both cocaine users, were separately admitted to a Canadian hospital with unremitting fevers, flulike symptoms and dangerously low white-blood-cell counts. Their symptoms were consistent with a life-threatening immune-system disorder called agranulocytosis, which kills 7% to 10% of patients and is rare except in chemotherapy patients and those taking certain antipsychotic medications...
...University and Columbia University shows that even a modest decrease in daily salt intake can lead to dramatic health benefits. The authors documented an annual drop of as many as 120,000 cases of heart disease, 66,000 instances of stroke and 99,000 heart attacks caused by high blood pressure after a 3-g-per-day reduction in sodium. (See the best in health...
...advantages, not surprisingly, were more profound for African Americans, who are more likely to develop high blood pressure and may be more sensitive to the hypertensive effects of salt than other ethnic groups, and for the elderly, since blood vessels stiffen with age, which can lead to higher blood pressure...
...team conducted a computer-based analysis to determine the impact of a 3-g-per-day reduction in sodium intake on rates of heart disease and death. They also calculated the cost savings emerging from the amount of disease that would be avoided because of lower blood pressure. The conclusion: by cutting salt intake nationwide, the U.S. could save $10 billion to $24 billion annually in health care costs...
That's a serious amount of money, but it's the health benefits that are even more stunning. Using data from previous clinical trials on salt intake and blood pressure, the researchers found that reducing sodium by 3 g per day would be as good for the heart as cutting tobacco use by half, lowering one's body mass index 5% or taking statin medications to lower cholesterol. Even more surprising, cutting salt by 3 g per day was as effective in reducing death rates among people with hypertension as taking medication to control blood pressure. (See the 10 worst...