Lowering dietary salt intake may reduce asthma severity and make
breathing easier for adults with the condition, researchers say.
Timothy Mickleborough from
Indiana
University and Andrew Fogarty from the
University of
Nottingham came to the conclusion that
increased salt intake may increase the severity of asthma after analyzing data
from previous epidemiological and clinical studies.
Epidemiological studies suggested that lower salt intake was
associated with improved airway response. But not all studies agreed with such
a hypothesis, which is hard to explain, Mickleborough and Fogarty said.
"Possible explanations for the inconsistency of the
data are that dietary factors may have a different effect in children and young
adults, as the age of the individual is an important factor in determining the
sensitivity to sodium," the reviewers were quoted by nutraingredients.com as
saying. "Alternatively, dietary sodium may not have an effect on asthma in
the general population."
"Collectively, the studies to date investigating the
potential relationship between dietary sodium and the severity of asthma or
airway hyper-responsiveness have provided support for the hypothesis that
increased dietary intake of sodium may increase the severity of disease in
those with asthma," they wrote.
High intake of salt has been linked with high blood pressure
and heart disease. Some experts estimated that up to 150,000 Americans die from high intake
of salt each year.
Salt consumption in the U.S can be up to 12 grams a day for
some individuals. The current recommended daily allowance is 2.4 grams
of sodium per day.
Some experts say one
gram of salt a day will be just fine.
