Reducing daily salt intake by just 1 gram could prevent nearly 9 million cases of heart disease and stroke and save 4 million lives in China by 2030, estimates from a study published in the journal BMJ Nutrition Prevention & Health suggest. ”. Salt consumption in this Asian country is one of the highest in the world, with an average of 11 g/day, more than double the maximum amount recommended by the WHO (less than 5 grams/day). High salt intake increases blood pressure and thus the risk of cardiovascular disease, which accounts for 40% of all deaths in China each year. Likewise, between 76 million and 130 million deaths from cardiovascular diseases could be avoided worldwide between 2022 and 2050 if hypertension (HTN) is already out of control. The researchers aim to estimate the health benefits that could be achieved by reducing salt intake across the country, with the goal of aiding the development of a feasible intake reduction program. They estimated the impact on cardiovascular health by 3 different approaches. The first of these was a 1 g/day reduction in salt intake within 1 year. The second was the interim WHO target of a 30% reduction by 2025, equivalent to a gradual reduction of 3,2 g/day. The third was to minimize salt consumption to less than 5 g/day by 2030, the goal set by the Chinese government in its action plan for health and development, 'Healthy China 2030'. They then estimated drops in systolic blood pressure (the top number in a blood pressure reading that indicates how forcefully the heart pumps blood around the body), and subsequent risk of heart attacks/strokes and deaths from disease. cardiovascular. Since, on average, adults in China consume 11 g/day of salt, reducing this to 1 g/day will lower systolic blood pressure on average by reducing 1,2 mmHg. And if this reduction were achieved in one year and sustained, some 9 million cases of heart disease and stroke could be prevented by 2030, 4 million of them fatal. Maintaining this for another 10 years could also prevent around 13 million cases of heart attacks and strokes, 6 million of them fatal. Reaching the interim WHO target for 2025 would require a 3,2 g/day drop in salt intake. If this were to continue for another 5 years, a total backlog of around 14 million cases of heart disease and stroke could be avoided by 2030, 6 million of them fatal. And if you set until 2040, the cumulative total could be around 27 million cases, 12 million of them fatal. Reaching the 'Healthy China 2030' target will require a 6 g/day reduction in salt intake, lowering systolic blood pressure by an average of about 7 mmHg, adding up to 17 million fewer cases of heart disease and stroke, 8 million of which ended in death. The researchers say the benefits of reducing dietary salt intake apply to men and women of all ages across the country. There could also be additional health benefits, although a lack of relevant data did not allow the researchers to estimate these. This includes the secondary prevention of cardiovascular enclaves and the reduction of cases of chronic renal enclaves and stomach cancer, since there is a risk of death in China, he suggested. “The 'Healthy China 2030' action plan includes nutritional recommendations to reduce salt, sugar and acid intake. This modeling study shows that salt reduction alone could bring enormous health benefits to the entire population of China." In his opinion, a reduction of 1 gram per day in intake "would be easily achievable." “The evidence for the substantial benefits of salt reduction in China is consistent and compelling. Maintaining salt reduction in China's population could prevent millions of deaths and necessary cardiovascular events.
