UVa Studies Salt Sensitivity

Published Jul 19, 2005

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UVa Studies Salt Sensitivity

By Sarah Barry / Daily Progress staff writer

July 14, 2005

Canned soups and packaged foods used to seem like quick and easy alternatives to preparing a home-cooked meal. But along with their higher calorie counts and lower nutritional values, their incredible sodium contents are proving to be more dangerous than doctors first believed.

The University of Virginia is conducting a new study on salt sensitivity. The study will monitor participants' blood pressure as they go on low-salt and high-salt diets. Doctors hope to identify certain genes that predispose individuals to sodium sensitivity.Dr. Robin Felder, who is the principal investigator in the study, estimates that approximately 58 million Americans are salt sensitive.

Dr. Cindy Schoeffel, the study coordinator, says that a person who is salt sensitive will not feel any immediate effects after consuming a large quantity of salt. The only tell-tale sign is that "your body cannot accommodate it without raising your blood pressure," she said.

The risks associated with salt sensitivity include kidney failure, stroke and heart disease - the same as those that are associated with high blood pressure, said Felder.

Salt sensitivity is gaining importance as people are consuming more and more salt. Pre-packaged meals and canned vegetables have very high sodium contents, which can seriously affect the health of someone who is salt sensitive.

"There's no question we're eating about 20 to 30 times the amount of salt that we need," said Dr. Charles McCormick, an associate professor of nutrition at Cornell University. "Most of this comes from processed foods."

McCormick estimates that 85 percent of the sodium most Americans consume comes from the processed foods they eat, while only 15 percent comes from what they add at the table.

"We need less than four grams of salt per day," Felder said. "We consume more than 12 grams."

Schoeffel hopes that if individuals can be identified as salt sensitive early on in life, they can adjust their diet to avoid developing high blood pressure.

"High blood pressure is the silent killer," she said. "It doesn't give warning signs until it gets really high."

The study, which is still looking for volunteers, will eventually involve 400 men and women of either Caucasian or African-American descent. Volunteers can have either normal or elevated blood pressure, but must have a body mass index lower than 30. Participants should be "in general good health," Schoeffel said.

Once volunteers are deemed healthy, they will be screened for particular genetic markers. "We can't advertise for certain genes," Schoeffel said. "That's why we have to screen so many people."

Once a volunteer is deemed eligible, he or she will be put on two week-long diets. One week, they will be eating freshly prepared foods. The other week, they will be given a high-sodium diet of processed foods.

Schoeffel in no way sees this as a possible cure for high blood pressure. "Adjusting your diet may not avoid high blood pressure," she said. "But it will certainly help."

From: http://www.dailyprogress.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=CDP%2FMGArticle%2FCDP_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031783836998&path=!news