Salt and Blood Pressure: Cutting Through the Scientific Fog

Excerpt

A comprehensive MEDLINE search from 1966 to the present using the terms “salt,” “sodium,” “high blood pressure,” and “hypertension” revealed over 20,000 articles dealing with this issue. Given that the link between dietary salt and high blood pressure surfaced more than 100 years ago [1], this search covers only about one third of the time during which this link has been researched and discussed. It follows that a thorough and objective analysis of the literature pertaining to salt and hypertension is likely beyond the intellectual capacity of even the most skilled scientists. Such information overload either engenders helplessness and frustration or leads to a literature selection governed by personal preference (cherry picking). Apathy, uncritical thinking, and even evangelism are common consequences of attempts to penetrate this scientific fog. Not surprisingly, therefore, some of the arguments put forward in the salt–blood pressure controversy reflect a defensive authoritarianism that seems to be more suited to medieval theologians than to contemporary clinical scientists. A prime example of such defensive authoritarianism is, as documented below, the recent statement of the American Heart Association (AHA). …