High Salt in Common Medications Pose Alarming Health Risks

Amy Taylor November 28, 2013

Soluble painkillers, which are used by millions of people in Britain, may pose health risks due to their high sodium content, researchers revealed.

Researchers from Dundee University compared patients who took soluble medications containing salt with those who took the same medications without salt. They found that these patients had elevated risks of having heart attack, suffering from stroke, or dying from a vascular disease. They were also seven times more likely to develop high blood pressure or hypertension.

"We know that high salt causes hypertension and that hypertension leads to stroke." researchers said. However, their study is the first to show that salt present in medications may also increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases.

But the British Heart Foundation warned that the research was only applicable to people who were taking these medicines every day, and therefore it did not mean that occasional use could cause significant damage to the heart.

Many medications have hidden salt

Effervescent medicines often contain a substance called bicarbonate, which helps them fizz and dissolve easily, and this is often combined with sodium. The researchers looked at 24 different prescribed effervescent medicines, including common painkillers like paracetamol and aspirin, as well as some supplements. Sodium levels in tablets ranged from as low as 3mmol to as high as 18mmol, which is approximately a fifth of a teaspoon.

Dr Jacob George, the lead author of the study, said many more people bought these types of treatment from chemists, without a prescription. He noted that people needed to be aware of the risks and drug manufacturers should look at cutting the salt content of their products.

A person who takes a maximum dose of 8 soluble tables per day get to take 148.8mmol of sodium, which way exceeds the daily recommended intake for adults which is 104mmol.

Commenting on the study, Prof Gareth Beevers of the Blood Pressure UK said "Eating too much sodium - in any form - puts up our blood pressure, which puts you at increased risk of strokes and heart attacks, the biggest killers in the world." He said many people are unaware of the high salt contents among commonly used medications. He emphasised the need for labelling products. "Without clear labelling on these products, it is impossible to know how much additional sodium you would be eating, so it is shocking to find you could be having more than your daily maximum from medicines alone.” he added.

The study was published in the British Medical Journal.

Source of this article:

Salt in medicines ’poses a health risk’