BM: Reproducibility of BP responses to changes in dietary salt compelling evidence for universal sodium restriction. Hypertension 2003

Hypertension is a highly prevalent disorder associationwith significant population-attributable risk for car-diovascular and renal morbidity and mortality. Given the high lifetime risk of hypertension and associated compli-cations, a public health approach to prevention is logical. The DASH-Sodium trial represents a landmark study on nutrition and blood pressure (BP) regulation in a middle-aged popula-tion (4810 years) comprised of overweight-obese (body mass index [BMI] 305 kg/m2), disproportionately minor-ity (60%, mainly African American) volunteers with BP averaging in the high normal range at 13410/ 865 mm Hg.1 The findings from this carefully controlled feeding study, if applied to the general population, have the potential to reduce BP and delay and possibly prevent the development of hypertension and associated complications. Based on a post hoc analysis on the reproducibility of salt sensitivity in the DASH-Sodium trial, Obarzanek and col