Reduce salt intake to prevent strokes

By Dilanthi Jayamanne

The National Stroke Association (NSA) launched a week to create awareness on the risk of using salt in food. A spokesman for the Health Ministry said that the use of excess salt in food had increased the number of patients suffering from high blood pressure, heart disease and strokes.

The spokesman mentioned that the National week had commenced on Monday (26) and ended on April 1st.

Approximately 150 persons die of heart attacks, and 40 persons of stroke daily. More than 80 persons are left paralysed daily by strokes. One adult in every 100 had suffered a stroke in the Colombo District alone, he said.

High blood pressure (Hbp) was a main risk factor in strokes and the NSA was committed to bringing down the prevalence of strokes in the country, he said identifying strokes as the third biggest killer in most countries and a leading cause of severe disability.

However, the exact number of patients who had suffered from or died of strokes in Sri Lanka could not be estimated as a majority of the patients were treated by Ayurvedic or indigenous medicine while others were kept at home. A person who suffered a stroke should be taken to the nearest hospital within two hours. The stroke victim was observed for one hour and treatment was decided, the Health Ministry spokesman said..

A high intake of salt and lack of exercise and alcohol paved the way for high blood pressure. People consumed food with a lot of salt. Bread, sauce, cakes, biscuits, instant foods, takeaway, hamburgers, Chinese food had a heavy salt concentration and therefore they had to be avoided, he said. Bottles of mineral water could contain a significant amount of sodium. Manufacturers had been instructed to mention that fact clearly on the label. However, most often they failed to do so, the spokesman said, adding that awareness would be created among patients in hospitals countrywide on ‘reducing salt and preventing strokes.’

Meanwhile, President of the NSA, Consultant Neurologist, Padma Gunarathne, said it was important to choose food and ingredients with a low salt content. Up to half of our salt intake was from processed food, with the balance occurring naturally in food and water, she said.

Dr. Gunarathne said that the increase in the potassium intake counterbalanced the adverse effect of sodium in blood pressure. Fresh, frozen fruits and vegetables contained a significant amount of potassium and a low level of sodium, she said. She warned, however, that there was no justification for the unrestricted use of potassium, as an antidote to sodium, as it could lead to other complications.

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