BMJ  2007;334:967 (12 May), doi:10.1136/bmj.39204.964306.BE

Letters

Reduced salt intake

Sodium reduction is enticing, but what is the full recipe?

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Reading the study of the long term effects of dietary sodium reduction on a Friday evening, I wondered whether it could help my hypertensive patients on Monday morning.¹ Unfortunately not: the prescription for sodium reduction is not usable by my fellow general practitioners: "Individual and weekly group counselling sessions were offered initially, with less intensive counselling and support thereafter, specific to sodium reduction."

How do I translate this vague description for my patients? Those rare clinicians diligent enough to track down reference 23 would find a fuller, but still insufficient, description.² It still misses so many details that I (or a dietitian) would need that I don't know how to replicate it. But there is sufficient detail to show that this form of salt reduction is probably impractical in primary care.

The accompanying Editor's Choice says, "You might try talking salt in your next consultation,"³ but that does not seem . . . [Full text of this article]

University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 8AY

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Long term effects of dietary sodium reduction on cardiovascular disease outcomes: observational follow-up of the trials of hypertension prevention (TOHP)

Nancy R Cook, Jeffrey A Cutler, Eva Obarzanek, Julie E Buring, Kathryn M Rexrode, Shiriki K Kumanyika, Lawrence J Appel, and Paul K Whelton
BMJ 2007 334: 885. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Rapid Responses:

Read all Rapid Responses

Home cooking is the answer!

STANLEY SHALDON
bmj.com, 11 May 2007 [Full text]