Humana Health Watch Transcript Archive

January 15

Thoughts on High Blood Pressure and Diabetes

It’s well known that high blood pressure and diabetes can lead to problems like heart attack and stroke. Now a new study adds another problem to the list of complications caused by these diseases.

It appears that both diabetes and high blood pressure can affect thinking skills over time. In a study published in this month’s Journal Neurology, researchers studied almost eleven thousand people. They tested the participants’ thinking and learning skills twice, 6 years apart.

They found that the scores in people with diabetes declined on two of the subtests, and those with high blood pressure showed a decline on one of the subtests. The authors noted that these changes can begin as early as middle age, and may be due to very small strokes in the brain.

So if you’re looking to reduce your blood pressure, try lowering your salt intake. In another study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, participants were separated into two groups, one eating a typical American diet, and another eating what’s called the “DASH*” diet — a diet rich in vegetables, fruits, and low fat dairy products.

Each of the groups then ate a diet with high, intermediate, or low salt levels. Each group reduced their blood pressure when the salt levels were reduced, with the lowest blood pressure found in the group eating a low salt DASH diet.

In fact, in the people with high blood pressure, the combined effects of the DASH diet and salt reduction was equal to the effect of taking blood pressure medicine.

How low should the salt intake be and how does someone achieve that — just not adding salt to their food?

The average American eats almost 4-6,000 mg of salt a day, but ideally it should be much lower. The problem is usually not in just added salt, but the salt or sodium found in processed foods that we all generally eat. Best bet — start looking at sodium content on all food selections, and try to choose the low-sodium options.

*Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH)

References:

Neurology 2001: 56: 42-48
New England Journal of Medicine 2001: 344: 3-10

Resources:

American Dietetic Association
www.eatright.org
How to Prevent High Blood Pressure
my.webmd.com/content/article/1680.50589

January 15
Thoughts on High Blood Pressure and Diabetes
	It’s well known that high blood pressure and diabetes can lead to problems like heart attack and stroke. Now a new study adds another problem to the list of complications caused by these diseases. It appears that both diabetes and high blood pressure can affect thinking skills over time. In a study published in this month’s Journal Neurology, researchers studied almost eleven thousand people. They tested the participants’ thinking and learning skills twice, 6 years apart. They found that the scores in people with diabetes declined on two of the subtests, and those with high blood pressure showed a decline on one of the subtests. The authors noted that these changes can begin as early as middle age, and may be due to very small strokes in the brain. So if you’re looking to reduce your blood pressure, try lowering your salt intake. In another study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, participants were separated into two groups, one eating a typical American diet, and another eating what’s called the “DASH*” diet — a diet rich in vegetables, fruits, and low fat dairy products. Each of the groups then ate a diet with high, intermediate, or low salt levels. Each group reduced their blood pressure when the salt levels were reduced, with the lowest blood pressure found in the group eating a low salt DASH diet. In fact, in the people with high blood pressure, the combined effects of the DASH diet and salt reduction was equal to the effect of taking blood pressure medicine.

	How low should the salt intake be and how does someone achieve that — just not adding salt to their food? The average American eats almost 4-6,000 mg of salt a day, but ideally it should be much lower. The problem is usually not in just added salt, but the salt or sodium found in processed foods that we all generally eat. Best bet — start looking at sodium content on all food selections, and try to choose the low-sodium options. *Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH)
	References: Neurology 2001: 56: 42-48 New England Journal of Medicine 2001: 344: 3-10 Resources: American Dietetic Association www.eatright.org How to Prevent High Blood Pressure my.webmd.com/content/article/1680.50589