Reducing salt could play a big role in preventing heart conditions

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Randomised controlled trial: Subjects are randomly assigned to a test group, which receives the treatment, or a control group, which commonly receives a placebo. In 'blind' trials, participants do not know which group they are in; in ‘double blind’ trials, the experimenters do not know either. Blinding trials helps removes bias.

Observational study: A study in which the subject is observed to see if there is a relationship between two or more things (eg: the consumption of diet drinks and obesity). Observational studies cannot prove that one thing causes another, only that they are linked.

People: This is a study based on research using people.

Combining the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet with reduced salt consumption could reduce the risk of some heart conditions, according to a US study. Researchers put 412 participants on different diets; the DASH diet with three different levels of salt consumption and a group without any diet restrictions. Looking at three heart conditions; injury, strain and inflammation, the study found the DASH diet alone reduced inflammation while combining it with salt reduction reduced injury and strain. In an accompanying editorial, US researchers argue the study should help elevate a low-salt DASH diet as a widespread strategy for managing heart risks.

Journal/conference: JACC

Link to research (DOI): 10.1016/j.jacc.2021.03.320

Organisation/s: Harvard Medical School, USA

Funder: The measurement of cardiac biomarkers was supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH)/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) R21HL144876. The original DASH trial was supported by grants (HL50981, HL50968, HL50972, HL50977, HL50982, HL02642, RR02635, and RR00722) from the NHLBI, the Office of Research on Minority Health, and the National Center for Research Resources of the NIH. Siemens (Siemens Healthineers, Malvern, Pennsylvania) donated test assays and kits for the 3 cardiac biomarkers measured in this study. Dr. Juraschek is supported by a NIH/NHLBI K23HL135273. The funding source of the present study played no role in the study’s design, conduct, analysis, and decision to submit the manuscript for publication. All other authors have reported that they have no relationships relevant to the contents of this paper to disclose.

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