Reducing Salt Could Save Thousands of Lives
Reducing Salt Could Save Thousands of Lives
- BOSTON - Shaving 3 grams off the daily salt intake of Ameri- cans could prevent up to 66,000 strokes, 99,000 heart attacks and 92,000 deaths in the United States, while saving $24 billion in health costs per year. The benefit to the U.S.
- population would be comparable to cutting smoking by 50 per- cent, significantly lowering obesity rates and giving chol- esterol drugs to virtually everyone to prevent heart attacks, said Dr. Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo of the University of Cali- fornia, San Francisco and colleagues. Such a goal, they said, is readily attainable. Salt, which contributes to high blood pressure and heart disease, is widely overused in the United States, with 75 to 80 percent coming from processed food. Men typically consume 10.4 grams per day. For women, the average is 7.3 grams. Its use is rising. A reduction of 1 gram would prevent 11,000 to 23,000 strokes, 18,000 to 35,000 heart attacks and 15,000 to 32,000 deaths from any cause, the researchers reported in New England Journal of Medicine.
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