FREE NEJM E-TOC    HOME   |   SUBSCRIBE   |   CURRENT ISSUE   |   PAST ISSUES   |   COLLECTIONS   |   Search Term  Advanced Search

Sign in | Get NEJM's E-Mail Table of Contents — Free | Subscribe

Previous Volume 356:1966-1978 May 10, 2007 Number 19 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

	Full Text PDF PDA Full Text PowerPoint Slide Set Purchase this article Letters Add to Personal Archive Add to Citation Manager Notify a Friend E-mail When Cited E-mail When Letters Appear PubMed Citation

Hypertension affects approximately 25% of the adult population worldwide, and its prevalence is predicted to increase by 60% by 2025, when a total of 1.56 billion people may be affected.¹ It is the major risk factor for cardiovascular disease and is responsible for most deaths worldwide.² Primary hypertension, also known as essential or idiopathic hypertension, accounts for as many as 95% of all cases of hypertension.³

Primary hypertension results from the interplay of internal derangements (primarily in the kidney) and the external environment. Sodium, the main extracellular cation, has long been considered the pivotal environmental factor in the disorder. Numerous . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Dietary Sodium and Hypertension

Potassium Content of Sodium-Rich Diets

Vascular Effects of Potassium Depletion

Cardiovascular Effects of Potassium Supplementation

Lack of Adaptation of the Kidneys to the Modern Diet

Mechanisms of Altered Sodium and Potassium Homeostasis

Sodium Retention, Potassium Depletion, and Hypertension

Effects on the Arterial Wall

Effects on the Brain

Effects on Metabolism

Implications for Prevention and Treatment

Source Information

From the Department of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine; the Department of Medicine, Methodist Hospital; and the Renal Section, Veterans Affairs Medical Center — all in Houston (H.J.A.); and the Department of Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine, and the Division of Nephrology, Caritas St. Elizabeth's Medical Center — both in Boston (N.E.M.).

Address reprint requests to Dr. Madias at the Department of Medicine, Caritas St. Elizabeth's Medical Center, 736 Cambridge St., Boston, MA 02135, or at nicolaos.madias@caritaschristi.org.

Related Letters:

Mechanisms of Hypertension
Haddy F. J., Kotchen T. A., Handelman G., Kotanko P., Levin N. W., Epstein F. H., Adrogué H. J., Madias N. E.
Extract | Full Text | PDF  
N Engl J Med 2007; 357:827-829, Aug 23, 2007. Correspondence

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Rabelink, T. J., Rotmans, J. I. (2009). Salt is getting under our skin. Nephrol Dial Transplant 24: 3282-3283 [Full Text]  
• Zhang, L., Curhan, G. C., Forman, J. P. (2009). Diet-Dependent Net Acid Load and Risk of Incident Hypertension in United States Women. Hypertension 54: 751-755 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Bart, B. A. (2009). Treatment of Congestion in Congestive Heart Failure: Ultrafiltration Is the Only Rational Initial Treatment of Volume Overload in Decompensated Heart Failure. Circ Heart Fail 2: 499-504 [Full Text]  
• Chobanian, A. V. (2009). The Hypertension Paradox -- More Uncontrolled Disease despite Improved Therapy. NEJM 361: 878-887 [Full Text]  
• Safar, M. E., Temmar, M., Kakou, A., Lacolley, P., Thornton, S. N. (2009). Sodium Intake and Vascular Stiffness in Hypertension. Hypertension 54: 203-209 [Full Text]  
• Tucker, A. M., Vogel, R. A., Lincoln, A. E., Dunn, R. E., Ahrensfield, D. C., Allen, T. W., Castle, L. W., Heyer, R. A., Pellman, E. J., Strollo, P. J. Jr, Wilson, P. W. F., Yates, A. P. (2009). Prevalence of Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors Among National Football League Players. JAMA 301: 2111-2119 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Mente, A., Irvine, E. J., Honey, R. J. DA., Logan, A. G. (2009). Urinary Potassium Is a Clinically Useful Test to Detect a Poor Quality Diet. J. Nutr. 139: 743-749 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Li, J., White, J., Guo, L., Zhao, X., Wang, J., Smart, E. J., Li, X.-A. (2009). Salt Inactivates Endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthase in Endothelial Cells. J. Nutr. 139: 447-451 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Oberleithner, H., Callies, C., Kusche-Vihrog, K., Schillers, H., Shahin, V., Riethmuller, C., MacGregor, G. A., de Wardener, H. E. (2009). Potassium softens vascular endothelium and increases nitric oxide release. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 106: 2829-2834 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Cook, N. R., Obarzanek, E., Cutler, J. A., Buring, J. E., Rexrode, K. M., Kumanyika, S. K., Appel, L. J., Whelton, P. K., for the Trials of Hypertension Prevention Collabor, (2009). Joint Effects of Sodium and Potassium Intake on Subsequent Cardiovascular Disease: The Trials of Hypertension Prevention Follow-up Study. Arch Intern Med 169: 32-40 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Henz, S., Maeder, M. T., Huber, S., Schmid, M., Loher, M., Fehr, T. (2008). Influence of drugs and comorbidity on serum potassium in 15 000 consecutive hospital admissions. Nephrol Dial Transplant 23: 3939-3945 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Chen, J., Gu, D., Jaquish, C. E., Chen, C.-S., Rao, D. C., Liu, D., Hixson, J. E., Hamm, L. L., Gu, C. C., Whelton, P. K., He, J., for the GenSalt Collaborative Research Group, (2008). Association Between Blood Pressure Responses to the Cold Pressor Test and Dietary Sodium Intervention in a Chinese Population. Arch Intern Med 168: 1740-1746 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Negoianu, D., Goldfarb, S. (2008). Just Add Water. J. Am. Soc. Nephrol. 19: 1041-1043 [Full Text]  
• Webb, A. J., Patel, N., Loukogeorgakis, S., Okorie, M., Aboud, Z., Misra, S., Rashid, R., Miall, P., Deanfield, J., Benjamin, N., MacAllister, R., Hobbs, A. J., Ahluwalia, A. (2008). Acute Blood Pressure Lowering, Vasoprotective, and Antiplatelet Properties of Dietary Nitrate via Bioconversion to Nitrite. Hypertension 51: 784-790 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Frassetto, L. A., Morris, R. C. Jr., Sellmeyer, D. E., Sebastian, A. (2008). Adverse Effects of Sodium Chloride on Bone in the Aging Human Population Resulting from Habitual Consumption of Typical American Diets. J. Nutr. 138: 419S-422S [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Bailey, M. A., Paterson, J. M., Hadoke, P. W.F., Wrobel, N., Bellamy, C. O.C., Brownstein, D. G., Seckl, J. R., Mullins, J. J. (2008). A Switch in the Mechanism of Hypertension in the Syndrome of Apparent Mineralocorticoid Excess. J. Am. Soc. Nephrol. 19: 47-58 [Full Text]  
• Getz, G. S., Reardon, C. A. (2007). Nutrition and Cardiovascular Disease. Arterioscler. Thromb. Vasc. Bio. 27: 2499-2506 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Haddy, F. J., Kotchen, T. A., Handelman, G., Kotanko, P., Levin, N. W., Epstein, F. H., Adrogue, H. J., Madias, N. E. (2007). Mechanisms of Hypertension. NEJM 357: 827-829 [Full Text]