Clinical, Epidemiological and Chronobiological Studies on the　Relationship between Blood Pressure and Mineral Intake

The clinical, epidemiological and chronobiological studies on the relationship between blood pressure and salt, potassium or magnesium intake have been investigated over the past thirty years. These studies can be divided into six categories as follows : 1) Abnormalities of electrolytes metabolism : primary aldosteronism and Bartter\u27s syndrome. 2) Clinical studies on salt sensitivity in patients with idiopathic hypertension. 3) Chronobiological studies of blood pressure (BP) and urinary electrolyte excretion related to BP regulation, including the Fukuoka-Minnesota collaborative chronoepidemiological study, as well as studies on the circadian rhythms of urinary electrolytes during total parenteral nutrition, studies on the reapportionment of salt intake and circadian blood pressure patterns, and so on. 4) An estimation of the 24-h urinary sodium and potassium excretion from spot-urine specimens. 5) Comparative epidemiological studies on the genesis of hypertension in Nepal. 6) The effects of high-potassium, high magnesium or high fiber intake on blood pressure and the metabolism of lipids and carbo-hydrates in humans. An increasing number of elderly people are expected to suffer from either mild or borderline hypertension in the future. Thus, life-style modification (non-pharmacological treatment), most notably the appropriate intake of such minerals as sodium, potassium, magnesium and calcium, are now considered to be increasingly more important for the treatment of this hypertensive condition