Physiological Response to Dietary Salt: A Review on Salt Sensitivity Hypertension

High blood pressure is a major medical condition concerning public health, economical and disease burden worldwide. Elevated intake of dietary salt as a modifiable risk factor for high blood pressure, has been reported to be one of the increasing threats to the world's health. Evidence from various scientific researches including animal, genetic, epidemiological and interventional studies is suggesting that salt reduction could improve blood pressure level and subsequently, decrease the cardiovascular events. Despite the potential lead, the result is sometimes inconsistent and not reproducible. One key justification behind such irregularity could be due to heterogeneity of salt sensitivity. This review attempts to accumulate and reassess information and knowledge pertaining to pathogenesis of salt-sensitive hypertension for better understanding of the trait. Salt sensitivity in individual patients should be acknowledged when deciding treatment options, especially pharmacological therapy to maximise its effectiveness, and hence reducing unwanted side effects and medical costs.