4/24/2007 - Cutting back on salt may lower cardiovascular disease risk People who reduce the amount of salt in their diet can significantly lower their risk for cardiovascular disease, according to research published in the British Medical Journal. Cutting back on salt has already been found to help protect against high blood pressure. However, the current study offers evidence that a low-salt diet can also help lower a person’s risk for cardiovascular problems—such as heart disease, heart attacks and strokes—for years to come. Previous research on this topic has offered inconclusive results, researchers said.For the study, researchers tracked the participants of two high blood pressure prevention trials that were completed in the 1990s. In both studies researchers found that people who cut back on sodium by 25 to 35 percent were 25 percent less likely to develop cardiovascular problems than those who did not lower their salt intake. People who cut back on salt also had a 20 percent lower death rate. When the original studies began, the participants were between the ages of 30 and 54 and had pre-hypertension (blood pressure that is elevated but not yet considered high blood pressure), which put them at increased risk for cardiovascular problems. The first trial involved 744 people; the second trial consisted of 2,382 participants. The authors of the current study obtained information on 77.3 percent of the original study participants, 200 of whom reported some sort of cardiovascular problem. According to the researchers, people who had cut back on salt during the two studies tended to still be on lower salt diets years later. The researchers said their findings offer some of the strongest evidence yet that lowering the amount of salt in the diet reduces the long-term risk of future cardiovascular disease. Cutting back on salt may lower cardiovascular disease risk Back