AnalyzeDirect

Excess salt consumption is associated with increased risk of stroke and cardiovascular complications, such as cerebral small vessel disease. Several studies have established a causal relation between daily dietary salt intake and high blood pressure, which has a prominent role in promoting cardiovascular diseases. However, high sodium might weigh in on the development of cerebral dysfunctions regardless of its effects on blood pressure.

In a recent study, researchers from the University of Edinburgh, UK, decided to further explore the role of salt in a population of 264 subjects with recent stroke who presented a spectrum of cerebral small vessel disease. Performing MRI scans, the team inquired into associations among imaging findings, blood pressure and the salt intake score provided by the participants. Analyze software was used to manually segment and measure stroke lesions and to extract intracranial volume, including brain tissue, cerebrospinal fluid, and veins.

Findings from this study were consistent with the literature, as they indicated a strong association between sustained high arterial blood pressure and white matter lesions. And, the investigators were able to show, for the first time, a direct and independent correlation between brain lesions and elevated salt intake. In fact, subjects who admitted to routinely adding more salt to their food presented larger white matter lesions, independently of blood pressure levels.

A direct effect of salt on the endothelium, the interior surface of blood vessels, may account for a possible way through which dietary sodium consumption plays its role in the development of cerebral small vessel disease. However, the mechanism through which blood pressure, salt intake, and cerebrovascular disease are linked to one another warrants further investigation.

This study highlights the role of dietary salt in the progression of heart diseases and raises awareness of how a population-wide reduction in salt intake could dramatically reduce the incidence of cardiovascular diseases.

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Tags: Brain Lesions, Nutrition, Stroke