Potassium-enriched salt can reduce recurrent stroke risk: Study

Potassium supplements in salt can significantly reduce the risks of stroke recurrence as well as death according to an international studyThe study comes amidst the new recommendation by the World Health Organization WHO to take potassiumenriched salt to combat hypertension and related heart risksStroke is a leading cause of death and disability and recurrent events remain a major concern High sodium intake and low potassium intake are considered key risk factorsldquoThe study suggests that potassium salt substitute significantly reduced the risks of stroke recurrence and death and is a novel and practical therapeutic option for patients with strokerdquo said the researchers including from China Australia and the UKThe randomised clinical trial involved 15249 participants from China who had previously reported suffering from a strokeThe participants were assigned to use either a salt substitute consisting of 75 per cent sodium chloride and 25 per cent potassium chloride by mass or regular saltThe findings published in JAMA Cardiology showed that recurrent stroke was reduced by 14 per cent in the potassium substitute group compared with those in the regular salt groupA total of 2735 recurrent stroke events occurred with 691 fatal and 2044 nonfatal episodesHaemorrhagic stroke showed a 30 per cent relative reduction and strokerelated deaths decreased by 21 per cent The researchers also found no meaningful difference in hyperkalemia high potassium levels between groupsldquoResults of this cluster trial demonstrate that salt substitution was safe along with reduced risks of stroke recurrence and death which underscores large health gains from scaling up this lowcost intervention among patients with strokerdquo the researchers saidThe WHO in its recent guideline suggests using Ksalt or potassium chloride instead of regular table salt which is rich in sodium The Ksalt may help reduce the risk of hypertension which can lead to cardiovascular diseases CVDs and chronic kidney disease by lowering blood pressureIt also lowers the risks of other conditions associated with high sodium intake such as gastric cancerAs per the WHO every year 80 Lakh people die due to poor diet Of these 19 lakh deaths are attributable to high sodium intakeThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever