Reports: Study finds salt reduction would reduce cardiovascular-related deaths

NEW YORK — A new study indicates that the United States could prevent up to half a million deaths during the next 10 years by reducing salt intake, according to published reports.

Reuters reported on the study, conducted by the Institute of Medicine and published in the journal Hypertension, in which researchers used models to show how a low-sodium diet would affect a person's risk of high blood pressure or death from cardiovascular disease. Calculations indicated that if Americans reduced sodium intake to 2,200 mg per day, between 280,000 and 500,000 fewer would die.

The Institute of Medicine recommends that Americans consume up to 1,500 mg of sodium per day, with an upper limit of 2,300 mg, though the average American eats about 3,600 mg per day. The study found that wide reduction to 1,500 mg per day could reduce deaths, mostly from heart disease and stroke, by 1.2 million.

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