Dietary salt intake and coronary atherosclerosis in patients with prehypertension.

High dietary salt intake is known to contribute to hypertension and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. The authors investigated the association between dietary salt intake and development of hypertension or cardiovascular disease (CVD) in 243 patients with prehypertension. After a median follow-up of 4.53 years (range, 3.1-8.7), 123 (50.6%) patients developed hypertension and 71 (29.2%) experienced cardiovascular events, including fatal and nonfatal myocardial infarctions. Adjusted hazard ratios for patients with a high salt diet (≥6 g/d) were 1.57 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.17-3.31; P=.018) for hypertension and 1.97 (95% CI, 1.08-2.27; P=.011) for CVD. Multivariable-adjusted analyses of subgroups showed a significant association between salt intake and CVD, but no such association was found in patients younger than 60 years, women, or patients with normal weight or normal cholesterol level. These results provide further research of prevention of hypertension and CVD in prehypertension.