Dec, 27, 2013 – Salt and Meds

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ANCHOR LEAD: AWARENESS OF SALT IN PRESCRIPTION MEDICATIONS MUST START WITH HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS, ELIZABETH TRACEY REPORTS

How much salt is in those prescription medications you take? It’s very unlikely a consumer would know, but even physicians and other caregivers aren’t aware of salt content. Now a recent study in the Lancet points to these salt containing medications as a risk factor for death. Lawrence Appel, a salt and diet expert at Johns Hopkins, says the key to solving this problem is awareness. APPEL: This is not on the radar of physicians and so when they prescribe a medication it’s not something that they take into consideration. They’re thinking about the active product that might be what they’re trying to give their patient and the vehicle or the accompanying substance isn’t of primary concern. What this does raise is that physicians, formularies, those people that make decisions about medications to provide, should take into account other factors and the amount of sodium is one of them. Some
medications can be quite high. :28

Appel says formulations with little or no sodium are frequently available. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.