Salt Substitution Cuts Risk for Recurrent Stroke

MONDAY, Feb. 10, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Salt substitution is safe and reduces the risk for stroke recurrence and death among patients with stroke, according to a study published online Feb. 5 in JAMA Cardiology.

Xiong Ding, M.P.H., from Wuhan University in China, and colleagues evaluated the effects of salt substitutes versus regular salt on the incidence of recurrent stroke and mortality among patients with stroke. The analysis included 15,249 patients with stroke assigned to a salt substitute (75 percent sodium chloride and 25 percent potassium chloride by mass) or regular salt.

During a median 61.2 months of follow-up, the researchers found that recurrent stroke was significantly lower in the salt substitute group versus regular salt group (rate ratio, 0.86). Even larger effects were seen for hemorrhagic stroke (relative reduction, 30 percent). Additionally, death rates were also significantly lower in the salt substitute group (rate ratio, 0.88), with larger effects on stroke-related deaths (relative reduction, 21 percent). There was no significant difference observed between the groups for hyperkalemia.

“Results of this cluster trial demonstrate that salt substitution was safe, along with reduced risks of stroke recurrence and death, which underscores large health gains from scaling up this low-cost intervention among patients with stroke,” the authors write.

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