A "systematic reviews" about the clinical effectiveness of reducing salt intake on high blood pressure showed no effect.
Of course many experts weighed in on the study:
"Critics say this new review is based on just seven studies that were not designed to test the effects of sodium reduction interventions on CV events and mortality and is therefore unreliable. "
One physician, Lawrence Appel, was particularly harsh: "The authors truncated the best set of trials, TOHP1 and TOHP2, which has extended follow-up of >10 years, to just the trial period, 1.5 years for TOHP1 and three years for TOHP2. This set of trials, with extended follow-up, documented a significant reduction in CVD events."
This is the same Lawrence Appel who continues to push ALLHAT and a diuretic alone as the gold standard for treating hypertension to the exclusion of several new, large studies demonstrating that a combination of blood pressure meds reduce the risk of death from stroke and other ailments more effectively.
A little more consistency in how medical studies are evaluated and applied would be helpful. The totality of evidence matters. But what matters more is moving away from population based conclusions towards individualized and mechanism specific approaches to care.
Epidemiology, the foundation of comparative effectiveness research, is so 19th century.
See: Advising people to eat less salt is not best approach to reduce CVD at theheart.org
Of course many experts weighed in on the study:
"Critics say this new review is based on just seven studies that were not designed to test the effects of sodium reduction interventions on CV events and mortality and is therefore unreliable. "
One physician, Lawrence Appel, was particularly harsh: "The authors truncated the best set of trials, TOHP1 and TOHP2, which has extended follow-up of >10 years, to just the trial period, 1.5 years for TOHP1 and three years for TOHP2. This set of trials, with extended follow-up, documented a significant reduction in CVD events."
This is the same Lawrence Appel who continues to push ALLHAT and a diuretic alone as the gold standard for treating hypertension to the exclusion of several new, large studies demonstrating that a combination of blood pressure meds reduce the risk of death from stroke and other ailments more effectively.
A little more consistency in how medical studies are evaluated and applied would be helpful. The totality of evidence matters. But what matters more is moving away from population based conclusions towards individualized and mechanism specific approaches to care.
Epidemiology, the foundation of comparative effectiveness research, is so 19th century.
See: Advising people to eat less salt is not best approach to reduce CVD at theheart.org
