Diets High in Salt Responsible for Over 2.3 Million Deaths in 2010

More than 2.3 million people across the world died in 2010 due to high levels of salt in their diets, according to a new study presented at the American Heart Association meeting in New Orleans. Researchers at Harvard School of Public Health analyzed data from over 240 surveys of the sodium intake conducted between 1990 and 2010 in 50 countries. The researchers found that nearly 1 million of the deaths caused due to high intake of salt came prematurely among people younger than 69 percent of age.

Around 60 percent of the deaths were in men with 42 percent of the people dying due to heart attacks while 41 percent died due to strokes. High intake of salt was more prevalent among middle and lower income countries, accounting for more than 84 percent of the deaths.

However the study was dismissed by the Salt Institute which said that it was more related to ‘sensationalist politics’ than science. Speaking to CTV News, the group said, “The fact that the authors of this study and the American Heart Association chose to represent this shoddy modeling exercise as evidence of authentic cardiovascular mortality figures reveals an agenda far more rooted in sensationalist politics than in science”.

Source-Medindia