High-Salt Diet Linked to Doubled CVD Risk in People with Diabetes

A recent study has allegedly concluded that high dietary sodium intake doubles the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in patients with type-2 diabetes. Chika Horiakwa, et al., “Dietary Sodium Intake and Incidence of Diabetes Complications in Japanese Patients with Type 2 Diabetes–Analysis of the Japan Diabetes Complications Study (JDCS),” Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, July 2014. Researchers with the University of Niigata Prefecture analyzed food frequency questionnaires and disease incidence data for more than 1,500 people with type-2 diabetes who participated in the Japan Diabetes Complications Study (JDCS) during eight years of follow-up. Their results evidently showed that although sodium intake was not associated with overt nephrology, diabetic retinopathy or all-cause mortality, participants “who consumed an average of 5.9 g of sodium per day had about a 2-fold higher risk of CVD than those who consumed an average of 2.8 g/d.”

“The study’s findings provide clear scientific evidence supporting low-sodium diets to reduce the rate of heart disease among people with diabetes,” the study’s lead author was quoted as saying. “Although many guidelines recommend people with diabetes reduce their salt intake to lower the risk of complications, this study is among the first large longitudinal studies to demonstrate the benefits of a low-sodium diet in this population.” See The Endocrine Society Press Release, July 22, 2014.

Issue 531