• All News
• Consumer
• Pro
• New Drugs
• Pipeline
• Clinical Trials
• FDA Alerts

Salt Substitution May Reduce All-Cause, Cardiovascular Mortality

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on April 9, 2024.

By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, April 8, 2024 -- Salt substitution may reduce all-cause or cardiovascular mortality, according to a review published online April 9 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Hannah Greenwood, from Bond University in Queensland, Australia, and colleagues examined the long-term effects of salt substitution on cardiovascular outcomes in a review of 16 randomized controlled trials, eight of which reported on primary outcomes, including mortality, major cardiovascular events (MACE), and adverse events at six months or longer.

Seven of the trials included populations of older age and/or with higher cardiovascular risk than average. The researchers found that salt substitution in this population may reduce the risk for all-cause mortality and cardiovascular mortality (rate ratios [95 percent confidence intervals], 0.88 [0.82 to 0.93] and 0.83 [0.73 to 0.95], respectively; low certainty). A slight reduction in MACE was seen with salt substitution (rate ratio, 0.85; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.71 to 1.00; very low certainty), and there was very low-certainty evidence of serious adverse events (risk ratio, 1.04; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.87 to 1.25).

"Salt substitution is a promising low-cost and scalable nondrug intervention that may reduce mortality outcomes with very low-certainty evidence of reducing MACE and without increased risk for serious harms," the authors write.

Abstract/Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)

Editorial (subscription or payment may be required)

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2024 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Posted April 2024

More news resources

• FDA Medwatch Drug Alerts
• Daily MedNews
• News for Health Professionals
• New Drug Approvals
• New Drug Applications
• Drug Shortages
• Clinical Trial Results
• Generic Drug Approvals

Subscribe to our newsletter

Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.