Clinical Perspective
-In order to have confidence in a study's results, one need consider the quality of the design and methodology. In this instance, the latter are sufficiently problematic that the data generated are unsound. Flaws include a lack of statistical adjustment for confounders such as age, medication use, and severity of CKD among others.
-Rather, the trial's value lies in the question posed. What if some patients only consume a sodium-rich diet because they cannot taste lesser amounts of salt?
This fundamentally alters the physician's notion of the problem--
that the individual is "non-compliant" with a low-salt diet owing to a preference for saltier tasting food.
-Taste dysfunction is well-documented with aging, tobacco use and, in fact, kidney disease.
-The capability of a sodium-restricted diet to heighten patients' perception of saltiness to a degree that they add lesser amounts to their meals
will be addressed in a subsequent newsletter.
-As highlighted in a
previous issue, even if a person adds excessive amounts of table salt, by far the largest source of dietary sodium intake is prepared food.
-Disclosures: I have no conflicts to declare.
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