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Impact of Sodium, Potassium Intake Varies With BP

Increase in sodium/potassium ratio linked to increase in LV mass in young adults with pre-, hypertension

WEDNESDAY, April 22, 2015 (HealthDay News) — In normotensive young adults, an increase in sodium/potassium ratio correlates with an increase in atrial filling fraction, while in individuals with prehypertension or hypertension it is related to an increase in left ventricular (LV) mass, according to a study published in the May 1 issue of The American Journal of Cardiology.

Bernhard Haring, M.D., from the University of Würzburg in Germany, and colleagues examined whether intake of dietary sodium or potassium is related to changes in LV diastolic functioning and LV mass index. Echocardiographic data from 1,065 young adults (aged 18 to 39 years; 47 percent were normotensive and 53 percent had prehypertension or hypertension) were prospectively analyzed.

The researchers found that compared with normotensive participants, participants with prehypertension or hypertension were older, had higher body mass index, and reported higher intakes of sodium. In normotensive subjects, potassium intake was negatively correlated with mitral E velocity (P = 0.029), while sodium/potassium ratio correlated positively with atrial filling fraction (P = 0.017). In participants with prehypertension or hypertension, sodium consumption correlated positively with atrial filling fraction (P = 0.034) and an increase in sodium/potassium ratio correlated with higher LV mass index (P = 0.046).

“In conclusion, an increase in dietary sodium/ potassium ratio was related to an accentuation of atrial phase LV diastolic filling in normotensive young subjects, whereas in prehypertensive or hypertensive subjects it was associated with higher LV mass index,” the authors write.

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